On Sat, Aug 19, 2006 11:57:58 AM +0200, Anders Johansson (andjoh@rydsbo.net) wrote:
Except for a very few individuals, this list has historically been free from people who place form over content.
What you and the others oh-so-mature folks who don't care about "form over content" keep ignoring is that, at least in cases like these, it is not asked "just because they did it so in the old times" or "so you will look good in the pictures we'll send to grandma". On a high traffic mailing list "form over content" is essential for ACTUAL EFFICIENCY. If posts are always properly titled, trimmed as much as possible, bottom posted, threads not hijacked, OT threads asked to stop immediately etc.... both learning (even from the archives) and giving help become much EASIER and FASTER. That's it, whether you like it or not. Otherwise, as another subscriber mentioned in this thread, this is EXACTLY why:
I do agree alot of questions go unanswered in a big way. There is alot more B.S on here than most lists I have been on or am on, too bad really.
And I can only agree with him. Me, I was really amazed to see some months ago that absolutely OT rambling on measure units and paper sizes going on for 100+ messages without moderation. I remained subscribed only to see how long it would be allowed to go on. Then I unsubscribed, then I came back recently, only to find the same situation because rules are not enforced. As far as your conclusion goes:
Now PLEASE let this discussion, and all others like it DIE, and let's get back to technical issues
The only thing you get with the "free form" attitude is that those who can help MORE on technical issues INVARIABLY go somewhere else to not waste their time. Never mind me, though. This is almost surely the last time I enter such topics here. I'll probably unsubscribe soon, since the noise (not the one on "form over content", the one coming because "form over content" is not applied) is too high. I *have* received useful help several times here, and for that I'm grateful, but enduring thousands of UNREADABLE/OT messages is too tiring to remain subscribed continuously (ie keep learning and helping others when I could). In any case, I agree with the other guy who said SUSE is not a good distribution for newbies. I too would be reluctant to recommend it, if the main online forum is messed up as it is these days. Ciao, Marco -- Marco Fioretti mfioretti, at the server mclink.it Fedora Core 5 for low memory http://www.rule-project.org/ Cyberspace makes every place the same. But we're planning to put five billion people in it. [That] will freeze the entire species. Everything will stop dead in its tracks. Everyone will think the same thing at the same time. -- Michael Crichton, "The Lost World"