> [...] there may be FAQs that are apt for CD-ROM distribution, [...]
> I would like to learn of FAQs that do not fit this model so
> that I do not freeze my conceptions on the basis of too narrow a
> knowledge base
I keep 4 FAQs (3 related to Sun's OpenWindows, XView and the OPEN LOOK UI,
and one relating to Metafont fonts) that are updated in very minor ways,
rarely more often than quarterly. All of these have been published in
books, and included on CDs, and are useful there. The Metafont list has
changed in a major way only once in four years, and yet is still useful,
and significantly reduces the `where can I get...' postings in the two main
newsgroups it goes to.
Hence, I have no problem with it going on a CD/ROM at all, and in fact
welcome the opportunity to help more people by giving them the information.
When I lived in the UK, I wasn't on the Internet, and paid by the kilobyte
for Usenet traffic & e-mail... and although things have improved generally in
the UK, per-connection-time charges are now becoming common in the US with
commercial service providers. Buying a CD with internet resources, such as
the (excellently done, I think) Atlanta CD, can save you money and can get
you information you simply wouldn't get otherwise.
If it's between not getting an FAQ at all, and getting it on a CD, I know
which I prefer....
The other use is that you can search the CD, whereas you can't so easily
search the remote rtfm server; I know that we don't keep *.answers here for
more than a day or two, since people can get them from the server, so the
full-text index that I used to keep is no longer available to people here.
An index to the CD would at least identify the right FAQ, and people can then
ask for the up-to-date one if they feel it's likely to be out of date.
Lee
-- Liam Quin, SoftQuad Inc +1 416 239 4801 lee@sq.com <URL:http://www.sq.com/> HexSweeper NeWS game;OPEN LOOK+XView+mf-fonts FAQs;lq-text unix text retrieval SoftQuad HoTMetaL/HTML Editor; SoftQuad Panorama/WWW SGML Viewer
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