How often does someone say, use Google to get the answer for your Linux question? The suggestion isn't to use Yahoo, Dogpile, Bing, drop in some other obscure search engine. The suggestion is to use Google as if Google has become the defacto standard for answering Linux questions.
The whole point of Linux mailing lists is that community is built up and perhaps just perhaps, the question related to the question being asked might get answered. By asking about serial ATA enclosures on a Linux list I am asking beyond my question if external SATA is worth pursuing on a Linux based system. A search engine has a hard time answering a question behind a question unless there is a valuable programmed in expectation. Search engines are not intelligent and they never will be. Expectations can be statistically helpful, but they do not always lead to presenting what the researcher wants/needs. A human being with creativity has a much better chance than a computer of making a useful presentation to someone. A thing to be aware of is that Google has advertisers who pay money which puts pressure on Google to produce hits for those advertisers even if that is nonsensical. Google does not equal Linux. Linux is a phenomenon outside of Google that predates Google and one which will hopefully outlast it. Google may not stay free. Google's chrome will likely be pushed by Google instead of Linux. Google's book plans, are the freedoms associated with paper back books that are taken for granted going to be lost in the e-book world? I've used Google a lot to do Linux research and I must say that Google is not always a good tool. Sometimes you get bogged down with old information and junk. A lot of the HOWTOs haven't been updated for recent changes and in general this kind of documentation seems to be lapsing. Use Google or use my wiki seems to be the mantra, but there are problems with that. First off, search engines have trouble getting the right information in front of you at times whereas wikis can be destroyed by malicious people injecting erroneous information or removing correct information. Search engines are impersonal and have limited utility. They cannot give you a sense of community whereas being on a mailing list where there are other real people on the list can. _______________________________________________ PLUG mailing list [email protected] http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
