I second this.
> > ...I know many of you reading this are about
> > to break a vein because you feel so laboured just to have to write
> > FAQ lists that it should be in "whatever damn format I want, who
> > cares if people reading it can't convert it. That's the way *I*
> > want it because I'm writing it."
> > Very sad.
>
> False. I'm going to be uncharacteristically blunt here: it's
> people who don't know a Good Thing when they see it, and feel
> compelled to tinker with it to "improve" it, that are very sad.
Yes Steve, you were blunt... :-)
> I understand and agree that it Would Be Nice if all FAQ lists
> shared a common format. But it is simply not possible to impose
> any standard format without utterly destroying the spirit which
> produces FAQ lists in the first place.
With this I totally agree! Forced common formats for the body of the text
limit the creativity of the people contributing by writing and maintaining
FAQ lists. Header standardization I can see but not the body of the text.
Writers will end up spending much to much time trying to "format it up"
without really adding any quality to the content. And isn't the content
the reason for the FAQ in the first place ? This type of attitude will
only drive FAQ list writers away from contributing.
Guidelines are nice and can assist FAQ writers but to require conformance
is contrary to the originating ideas of news.answers.
-Kent+
-- Kent Landfield INTERNET: kent@sterling.com Sterling Software UUCP: uunet!kent Phone: (402) 291-8300 FAX: (402) 291-4362 Please send comp.sources.misc-related mail to kent@uunet.uu.net.
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