Overly brief answers (was Re: Terminal Server)

[epilogue at allstream.net]

On Mon, 21 Jun 2004 09:27:44 -0400
Bill Moran <wmoran at potentialtech.com> wrote:

> Nico Meijer <nico.meijer at zonnet.nl> wrote:
> 
> > Hi Mike,
> > 
> > > Can FreeBSD act like Windows Terminal Server, i.e. remote access,
> > > multiple sessions?
> > 
> > Yes.
> 
> I wanted to start a brief discussion about these kinds of answers to
> questions.
> 
> I've been seeing this quite a bit lately.  I don't know if it's just one
> person, of if multiple folks have picked up on it.
> 
> <opinion>
> This is not an answer to the question.  It does not answer the question
> and does not contribute to the OPs knowledge of FreeBSD, nor does it
> contribute to the list archives.  It's also a violation of the rule
> against "me too" answers as laid out in "How to Get the Best Results from
> FreeBSD-Questions".  It doesn't even serve to educate the OP on how to
> ask better questins.
> 
> First off, there are actually two questions hidden in the post: "Can
> FreeBSD act as a WTS?", and "can FreeBSD provide the same services as
> WTS?"  Is "yes" your answer to both of them?  Because, if it is, I'd like
> to know which software allows it to function as a WTS, since my searches
> have not found any such software.
> 
> This leads to the implied question of "what software provides the
> capability" which (despite not being voice, directly) is pretty obvious. 
> You've totally ignored that question.  You could say that "technically,
> he didn't ask" but it boils down to just being rude.
> </opinion>
> 
> I'm curious as to whether this is only my opinion, or if others feel the
> same way.

at the risk of creating a double standard, 'me too'.   ;)

though they aren't particularly helpful answers, i don't believe that being
curt is always the intention.  rather, i think that, in their eagerness to
help 'first', some posters may simply be 'forgetting' to provide
substantive assistance to newcomers and other interested parties.

thanks for taking the time to remind everyone about this, bill.  

wishful thinkingly yours,
epi


> I don't think answers like this reflect well on FreeBSD or the
> FreeBSD community. Short answers like "see 'man foo'" are appropriate, as
> they impart some knowledge and tell the OP that his question is answered
> in the indicated documentation, but this doesn't follow that template.
> 
> I do feel that, althought Grog's document doesn't specifically chastise
> these types of answers, that they are _not_ in the "spirit" of that
> document, and do not serve the purpose of this mailing list.
> 
> -- 
> Bill Moran
> Potential Technologies
> http://www.potentialtech.com
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