>> On Wed, 30 Jun 1999 21:45:46 -0600 (MDT),
>> "Scott D. Yelich" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> said:
S> Look at the source you say? I answer I'm not a programmer. You say
S> then I am not in a position to be installing qmail or any other mta in
S> the first place -- but, alas, who are you to say this when, in fact, I
S> am put in just this exact position.
Let's step back for a minute and look at the bigger picture. Why do we
have to put up with so much crappy software from certain large
companies? Because, like it or not, they gained market share by putting
up with what we'd call stupid questions.
In a better world, users would be more willing to learn, but on this
planet, some of them are just too spooked by the machine to even try,
especially if they're trying to migrate from Microsloth. If they buy
enough cars with the hood welded shut, I don't blame them for thinking
that's the way all cars are built. I don't feel obligated to do their
thinking for them, but I don't call them stupid, either; no one was born
knowing this stuff.
I treat MS refugees like someone climbing over the (former) Berlin Wall;
asking them why they didn't get over faster is not productive and
doesn't show them why "software that doesn't suck" is better.
If I see too many questions from someone, I treat it like spam and press
'd' for delete. If I see an easy question I've answered or seen before,
I send a canned reply which I store in ~/mail/replies. The procmail
list sends out a "mini-faq" every 2-3 weeks (no more than 40-50 lines)
which holds the main resources for learning that package; perhaps we
could do the same? Or, better yet, ezmlm could do that for us by
appending one line to the header or body of our postings;
Quick help: Send mail with subject "minifaq" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
I've worked on a help-desk in the same organization since 1988, so I am
in touch with the experience of getting the same questions a dozen
times.
--
Karl Vogel
ASC/YCOA, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433, USA
[EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Spock! That's negatory on "daisy dancing." You are out,
repeat, out of character. Do you read me? Spock? --Bloom County
