No more "me too" posts.

Mark Kirkwood markir at paradise.net.nz
Mon Feb 2 07:39:34 UTC 2009


Dotan Cohen wrote:
> Cross posted to both Kubuntu and Ubuntu mailing lists.
>
> Very often posters ask questions on the *buntu lists, and they are
> followed up by one or five "doesn't work for me either" posts. Don't
> do that. And don't ask for the solution "if you find one".
>
> These mailing lists are public. When you clutter up a thread with "me
> too" posts it becomes difficult to find the solutions and the
> developments in the threads. You are making it _harder_ to come to a
> solution. And there is no need to request a solution: if a solution
> materializes, it will be posted in the thread. If you really, really
> feel the uncontrollable urge to self-identify with the OP then do it
> off list, but keep all problem solving on-list. Furthermore, if an OP
> does find the solution to a problem by himself, it is expected that he
> will post back with the solution.
>
> The only case where I could justify making a "post the solution" post
> public is when the OP solves his problem then does not post the
> solution. In that case, beat it out of him!
>
>
>   

I think there is a useful purpose in such posts - they provide evidence 
that a particular problem is not specific to the OP (either hardware or 
setup/config). I agree that a message with merely "me too" as content is 
pretty much useless, but provided some information about the poster's 
hardware, Ubuntu version and customizations (if any) are included then 
this should be helpful for others trying to reproduce the problem (e.g 
if a "me too" has my hardware - I should be able to reproduce - unless 
the issue is setup/config, so yes, useful!)

regards

Mark





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