Francisco Tapia
fhtapia at gmail.com
Thu Mar 26 17:26:05 CDT 2009
John, I still have the threads in which you posted messages. Needless to say I do remember recommendations being posted as well as links or keyword hints for the BOL (Books On Line) [which comparing to Access Help over the years I have found to be extremely helpful]. I do remember that you wanted responses that were crafted exactly to your request, but that is neither here nor there, as perception of help is 9/10ths of a lists usefulness. -Francisco http://sqlthis.blogspot.com | Tsql and More... On Thu, Mar 26, 2009 at 8:15 AM, jwcolby <jwcolby at colbyconsulting.com>wrote: > 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 > > > > > -- > AccessD mailing list > AccessD at databaseadvisors.com > http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd > Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com >