Re: To follow responders -- building an FAQ

> I welcome the idea of building a resource to help deal with the number
> of repeated questions that are posted in the newsgroup. But, IMHO, it
> is wishful thinking to believe that providing a FAQ is going to cut down
> the number of repeated questions that are posted to this newsgroup.

In other newsgroups I've visited, the best one's that had a FAQ had that FAQ posted to the newsgroup on a regular basis. If the FAQ itself does not repeatedly show up on the newsgroup, how are the people to know that it exists? Some of the more "newsgroup literate" will look for the FAQ first (if it is available). Others won't look at all. So I'm personally torn on the issue. Is it worth it to generate and then maintain a FAQ? Some will read it and others won't. So we may see a reduction in the same old questions, but I doubt that those questions will entirely disappear.  

> There are a lot of people that are starting to install and use Oracle, and,
> let's face it folks, Oracle can be a real challenge for beginners. And for
> those that can't bother with locating or reading the Installation Guide or
> the Concepts manual, do you really think that they are going to bother
> with locating and searching a FAQ ?

I *kind of* agree... There are those who won't read anything and want someone, anyone, to post a quick, step by step guide to solve their problems. But there are still others who will take at least one step to solving their own problems and it might be easier for them to read a FAQ than what can appear to be daunting Oracle documentation.  

> What bothers me more (about the newsgroup) is that more than a few
> responses (and how do i put this politely) contain "inaccurate" and/or
> "incomplete" information.

I have to disagree here. I think that the community of people who do answer on a frequent basis do their best to put forth accurate and complete information to the best of their ability. But it is hard to answer every question in such a manner. More often than not, there are multiple answers to a question due to the fact that the original poster does not provide enough background information to adequately resolve the problem. How often does one see questions that could be answered if only the user would put their Oracle version and platform? Or include an EXPLAIN PLAN? After all, how am I supposed to accurately and completely answer a blanket question like "why is it slow connecting to SQL*Plus?" Well, there are tons of reasons. Since I have no further information to go on, it is likely that I will give inaccurate and/or incomplete information

> I believe that a resource, which i would refer to as "Frequently Posted
> Answers" would be a tremendous benefit to this newsgroup, both for
> long time members, and for those just joining. The purpose of this
> resource would not be to cut down on the number of frequently asked
> questions that are posted, but rather, providing an easy to use resource
> to answer those questions as accurately and efficiently as possible.
>
> Q: "... problem install on linux... " A: a link to page(s) on linux
> installs
> Q: "... ORA-1555... " A: link to the article on steve adam's web site
> Q: "... convert timezone ..." A: a link to the page on timezone issues...
> Q: "... migrate from SQL Server ..." A: a link to page on migration ...
>
> Sometimes a link to the exact section of the Oracle manual would be
> appropriate, but not everyone is registered at technet, and even fewer
> (i suspect) at metalink.

I agree with you here in the fact that the better this resource (FAQ or whatever) is created, designed, and deployed, the better for everyone involved.

Just my 3.14159265 cents worth,
Brian

-- 
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Brian Peasland
Raytheons Systems at
  USGS EROS Data Center
These opinions are my own and do not
necessarily reflect the opinions of my 
company!
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