From: Gavin Sinclair <gsinclair@...>
Date: 2002-11-07T09:08:46+09:00
Subject: Re: Handling FAQs - was "Thoughts on Ruby"

From: "Simon Cozens" <simon@simon-cozens.org>


> "Gavin Sinclair" <gsinclair@soyabean.com.au> writes:
> > I had in this in mind.
> >
> >  - Can you please sum up the question and answer so we can preserve it?
> > Newcomer: OK, ...
>
> Nice idea, but I think you'll find 90% of the time the newcomer just wants
> their question answered, and may even unsubscribe when they've got the
> answer they want. The answerer is the one with the goodwill, utilize that.

True, but:

 - for an easy question (exactly the type of thing we want to gather)
   there will usually be more than one answerer
 - if the newbie summarises it the FAQ will reflect a newbie point of
   view
 - many times, the original poster replies with a "thanks", so these
   ones are not likely to hit and run

In short, I believe the kinds of questions we want summarised and FAQed will be
nicely handled by the person asking the question.  At least in enough cases to
build a reasonable body of knowledge.

Gavin