On Tuesday 12 October 2010 20:54, Mike Scott wrote: > I can quite see your point, but - strictly IMO, of course - it really > does cause significant hassle to the list to allow unsubscribed > contributions to appear. >
IMHO the opposite is true. Computer newbies are often these unsubscribed 'posters' you talk about. Firstly i call them 'posters' rather than 'contributors' because they are usually asking questions - not contributing to answers. Secondly this only causes hassle if you do not work with the system. > You actually can have it both ways though. I've suggested before and > will do so again - you can have a scheme where subscribed addresses are > allowed onto the list, as now; unsubscribed ones would be diverted to > some sort of AI system (instead of a moderator) that (a) tells them of > the benefits of subscribing (and offers to do so by 'return of post'), When these unsubscribed newbies are told to subscribe to the list it often creates *more* hassles than solutions. They suddenly get all posts to the list when all they wanted was an answer to a single question. This causes them *stress* which can backfire on the list in many ways, mostly resulting in problems unsubscribing but occasionaly in abuse as a recent bout showed. > while (b) it also attempts to provide an answer from a database of the > [most common|most useful|easiest] q&a's. It's called a FAQ and already exists. The problem with FAQs is most people do not want to do research to answer a question (remember university graduates are a small minority in any country), they want to find someone who can tell them the answer to their one simple question. After all everyone has lied to them and told them computers[1] are easy to pick up. In one respect most of the questions you refer to could be answered "Learn to use your computer properly". > That way, list members don't > keep addressing the same (often trivial except to the newcomer) queries, > such as about install or file association, yet the system still offers a > useful service to newbies (quite likely even answering their question > quicker than now). And people's valuable time could be spent addressing > the harder (and more interesting, even!) problems. This would be better addressed by a "newbie" / "expert" combination of lists. Expert being invitation only where the Aryan race can develop without interuption from the Untermensch unless approved facilitators invite them. So, yes the above sentence was very tongue in cheek[2], but, as long as an exclusivity system does not evolve, a newbie / expert user list combination may prevent the issues you seem to find a problem. I am already subscribed to a newbie / expert list combination and it worked reasonably well until Mandriva stopped pointing newbies to it, preferring to point them to paid service tickets instead. Those of us subscribed to both could elevate serious questions in one of two ways. 1. Ask the question on the OP's behalf. 2. Advise that the question is an expert one and is better handled at an expert level. [1] Computers meaning hardware, physical interface (mouse, keyboard, monitor, peripheral devices, cables, sockets and switches), operating system, WIMP GUI, e-mail, the internet and every possible program they could need to run on the box. [2] Of course DEV's are the true Aryans and they already have their own lists, which we can join - but must be suitably obsequious while there. -- Michael --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: users-unsubscr...@openoffice.org For additional commands, e-mail: users-h...@openoffice.org
