List Rules

[Ian P. Thomas]

On Sat, 2005-02-26 at 09:47 -0500, Hacksaw wrote:
> Yes, but calling it "List Guidelines" makes ignoring it too tempting. Remember 
> that people are taught from a very early age that people will impose 
> strictures on them that appear to be arbitrary and burdensome. Some of the 
> time this is because the rules are, in fact, arbitrary and burdensome. They 
> are designed to keep you out. And then sometimes the rules are for a good 
> reason, and enforce the widest possible use of the thing they surround. 
> Witness the GPL.
> 
> My suggested title is an attempt to address the knee-jerk reaction from those 
> who have had too many stupid rules imposed on them. Instead being a stricture, 
> they become an affordance, to use the design term.
> 
> And what's a few extra words between colleagues, especially when it might help 
> make the burden lighter for some?
> 
> How about "Get Your Question or Problem Read on fedora-list"?

This is good.  I suggest, 

"Effectively Eliciting a Useful Response To Your Question(s)"

Sounds like something you'd hear from someone in HR ;) but, I think it
conveys the idea behind the guidelines as succinctly as possible.  I
wanted to remove 'Problem' from the mix because it attaches a negative
connotation to what you're posting about.  Some of the people posting to
this list apologize for asking a question, or state how they know they
are dumb for not knowing some knowledge about some topic.  

I feel the above description informs the person posting the question
that they are more likely to receive information beneficial to them if
they follow these steps.  The reasons are similar to why a well written
bug report has a better chance of being fixed then a poorly written one.
Guidelines that enhance clarity, if followed, reduce the amount of
effort needed to assess needs.  Anything to reduce the amount of effort
necessary to address a question is beneficial to everyone, as we are all
volunteers on this list.  

Of course, we have many on the list in which English is a second
language, so your wording might be easier to process.


Ian