[I should declare an interest here: I read alt.tv.red-dwarf and have some
knowledge of the events Pat relates. However, I'd prefer to respond to some
more general points raised by Pat's posting.]
>Something like that happened to me. I didn't update the Red Dwarf FAQ
>between December and April. I normally do it more often than that, but
>I didn't consider this to be a major problem. The only significant
>change was that one of the actors on the show, who had been charged with
>a felony in mid-'94, was tried and acquitted in February. The FAQ only
>reported that a trial was *scheduled* for February, but since there had
>been nonstop discussion of the proceedings in alt.tv.red-dwarf
>throughout February and March, I figured just about everyone who reads
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>the FAQ already knew the outcome.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
That's not what FAQs are for, though, in my opinion. They're not so much
for regulars in the group to read -- although they often provide an
invaluable information source. They're more for newcomers who often arrive
full of valid but all-too-familiar questions.
>In mid-April, I finally got the FAQ updated and posted the new version.
>And then a document called FAQ Update appeared on the newsgroup. It was
>a collection of new information that updated, corrected, or added to
>what was in the FAQ. Several of the regular posters to the newsgroup
>had cooperated to put it together. By the time it appeared, however,
>most of it was unnecessary, since the updated FAQ was already available.
>
>What puzzled me, though, was that none of these people had contacted me
>to express their concern about the FAQ, or to give me any of the new
>information.
Hmm. I can't speak for the people involved (there is a certain cliquishness
to alt.tv.red-dwarf) but there was increasing concern voiced publicly in
the group, particularly when faqserv kept posting the same increasingly
outdated document. Pat was noticably quiet at that time. It's very
understandable that work and other concerns can push maintenance onto the
back-burner, but I think that in these cases it's polite to inform the
readership that the FAQ will still be actively maintained when time allows.
(Such has been the case with my FAQ, in fact; pressure at work, changing
jobs, and upheaval in my private life means that the FAQ has been updated
only once in three months.)
_____________________________________________________________________________
James Kew Vauxhall, London
"Deep, so deep / the Number One I hope to reap / depends upon the tears you
weep / so cry, lovely, cry..." TBS, _Song for
Whoever_
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