Bug 12595

Summary: [PATCH] New FAQ Entry: "Why shouldn't I just go ahead and run -current?"
Product: Documentation Reporter: jobaldwi <jobaldwi>
Component: Books & ArticlesAssignee: freebsd-doc (Nobody) <doc>
Status: Closed FIXED    
Severity: Affects Only Me    
Priority: Normal    
Version: Latest   
Hardware: Any   
OS: Any   
Attachments:
Description Flags
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Description jobaldwi 1999-07-11 15:20:01 UTC 
A FAQ entry that will discourage people that shouldn't from running
-current.

Fix: Apply this patch to doc/FAQ/hackers.sgml:

Note: I am more familiar with DocBook than with LinuxDoc, so I may
have some of the tags wrong. :(
How-To-Repeat: "I just started running -current and now my box freezes!" x 200
Comment 1 Sheldon Hearn 1999-07-12 16:09:01 UTC 
Hi John,

I think we were all very impressed with Daniel's little rant. However,
do you really think that adding this _to_ _the_ _FAQ_ will actually
reduce the number of times this question crops up on the hackers and
current mailing lists?

I don't think so. I think that the only value of having this in the FAQ
is so that we can give people the snotty response "Read the FAQ" when
they ask.

Are you sure that this is a sound motivation for adding the entry to the
FAQ? This is a genuine question, I'm not just stabbing at the idea.

Ciao,
Sheldon.
Comment 2 jobaldwi 1999-07-12 21:53:26 UTC 
On 12-Jul-99 Sheldon Hearn wrote:
> 
> Hi John,
> 
> I think we were all very impressed with Daniel's little rant. However,
> do you really think that adding this _to_ _the_ _FAQ_ will actually
> reduce the number of times this question crops up on the hackers and
> current mailing lists?

Hmmm.  Maybe I'm weird, 'cause when I wanted to upgrade, I went straight to the
handbook to find out how instead of just asking on -stable or -questions, so I
tend to assume that if info is in the FAQ/handbook, people will hit that and
not have to send a message to anyone.  However, from my reading of the
handbook, I did realize at the time what -current was and that I didn't need to
run it, so I guess if someone is going to take the time to actually read the
docs, they won't need the FAQ entry.  So I guess no, it's not going to help.

> I don't think so. I think that the only value of having this in the FAQ
> is so that we can give people the snotty response "Read the FAQ" when
> they ask.

Agreed.

> Are you sure that this is a sound motivation for adding the entry to the
> FAQ? This is a genuine question, I'm not just stabbing at the idea.

Now that I've thought about it more, no.  My earlier inclination was "Hey,
here's something I can SGML-ify to help out."  And on the surface it would seem
to be helpful, but when you think about it, the information is already there.

> Ciao,
> Sheldon.

---

John Baldwin <jobaldwi@vt.edu> -- http://members.freedomnet.com/~jbaldwin/
PGP Key: http://members.freedomnet.com/~jbaldwin/pgpkey.asc
"Power Users Use the Power to Serve!"  -  http://www.freebsd.org
Comment 3 Sheldon Hearn freebsd_committer freebsd_triage 1999-07-12 22:26:12 UTC 
State Changed
From-To: open->closed

The submitter and I are in agreement that Daniel's FAQ entry wasn't 
really intended as a serious FAQ that would actually reduce the number 
of questions asked on -current or -hackers. :-)