[AccessD] AccessD Forum, List, Bottom posting, sigs, etc...

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
>



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