jwcolby
jwcolby at colbyconsulting.com
Thu Mar 26 10:15:38 CDT 2009
I would like to make a comment re the SQL Server list specifically. I used to belong to that list and ask questions there. I got MANY "if you don't know that much then you have no business using SQL Server" kind of responses, and a whole ton more "RTFM" and "BOL" responses. It *felt like* the list was a bunch of SQL Server admins or something. Given that SQL Server lite (or whatever it is called) is being recommended by Microsoft as a BE replacement for an Access database container, that kind of attitude is ludicrous. In the end that specific list was so unhelpful to me that I just unsubbed, and given my limited SQL Server experience, I have no intention of ever going back. I occasionally post SQL Server questions on this list, under the theory that there are just a ton of folks here with all kinds of background. Sometimes the questions are answered, sometimes not, but in the end I have received much more SQL Server assistance from this list than I ever received from the SQL Server list. Kinda sad, but that is just my experience, YMMV etc. If you happen to be a SQL Server admin (I am obviously not) then you might very well find that list to be VERY helpful, and I would recommend that you try it. John W. Colby www.ColbyConsulting.com John Bartow wrote: > Hi all, > I've been browsing the threads on the above stated issues, all of which have > been concerns throughout the past few years. > > My thoughts - which are consistent with past discussions in the Database > Advisors, Inc. board of directors (BoD) meetings: > Forum vs. List: > I am a list person, I am involved in dozens of forums but rarely have time > to check them. I am involved in many more lists and I browse through them > all almost daily. I may not have to respond but I do browse them to keep up > on what's happening on each. So, IMO we will not be abandoning the list > format for at least another year ;o) That said, we have been investigating > the newer technologies available that allow for both seamlessly. There are a > couple of open source applications that show some promise but we haven't > gone as far as testing them yet. (Our lists are run on open source > software.) If we find a forum/list combination that works I doubt there will > be any reason not to move to it. I'm confident from our past discussions > here and on other lists that our membership would financially support a > "best of both worlds" solution. It would take some time and dedication on > the part of a few individuals to make a transition to anything other than > what we are presently utilizing so this would be a concern. > > Bottom posting: > Sorry, as much as I like it, let's get real, it isn't going to happen until > someone comes up with a method which makes this easy to implement in MS's > mail products. > > Snipping: > Just take the time to snip. It gives you a few more seconds to think before > typing a reply and gives some of us time to cool off and not reply at all > ;o) > > Signature blocks: > Thanks to you that don't include these monstrosities. We've discussed this > topic ad-infinitum in the past. There's not much we can do about it. > > Off topic threads: > I think we are quite lenient with these. If everyone would follow the above > conduct they would be less of a concern. We created a separate list "dba-OT" > just for those that want to chit-chat about politics, stupid people tricks > and life in general. Everyone's invited to post comments there. DBA-OT is > NOT archived at all so your comments are as temporary as email can be. (You > all know "they" are watching us anyway ;o) We have a number of OTer's that > aren't even on the other lists anymore. They've moved on to other things in > their lives or retired but stay on as OTers because it's like a little > family over there, quite a dysfunctional little family but family no less > :-P > > I encourage everyone on AccessD to sign up for every list - just set a few > email handling rules to have the messages placed into separate folders. Then > when you feel the need to ask about SQL server, VB or any of its cousins, > VM, Blue Ray, audio cards security issues and other "technical things", or > the latest celebrity gossip you can post it directly to "DBA-SQLServer", > "DBA-VB", "DBA-Tech" or "DBA-OT" rather than AccessD. If everyone did this > we would all have cleaner lists, archives and still have the same > expectations of great responses. > > Why are the last three items a concern?: > We essentially have to pay to store our archives and we have no method to > remove all of this junk from the stored messages. This is why we promote > snipping, no sigs, etc This is why we reduced the size limit of the messages > to all lists (we have 15 lists, some for corporate use only but at least 5 > public lists with large archives). > I essentially copy and pasted the largest chuck of code, with explanations > included and some discussion about the code, into a text message and checked > the size. It didn't exceed the limit. In fact, I wanted to reduce the size > limit even more but we have some very understanding, kind folk on the BoD > :o) > > The moderators have all been advised of these issues and will allow any > relevant posting to go through even if it exceeds the size limit. The key is > to send plain text and if you post something that is extremely long, send a > message to one of the moderators (or to me) that it is relevant and please > allow it to go through. We will. We have the best list master and volunteer > moderators I have ever been involved with. If I could, I would buy them all > a steak dinner at the most exclusive restaurant in Winneconne, WI. for their > great efforts. > > If someone can come up with code that will go through our archives and > eliminate all (or even some of) the junk mentioned above that would be > great. It would reduce the size of the archives AND make searching the > archives much easier and give better results. If you just try to imagine > what the search turns up when no one snips out the previous parts of a > thread you can see why this is an issue. You may be searching for a problem > that has one thread but 90 responses with small talk in it and one good > solution. A bit frustrating because the search function will turn up all 90 > responses. > > Feel free to contact me anytime about concerns you have with any of the DBA > lists. > > John Bartow, President > Database Advisors, Inc. > Email: mailto:president at databaseadvisors.com > Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com > >