> people who simply seem to be using my posting as a way
> of testing their emailer, and they send me a complete copy of my FAQ back.
...
> |If you've sent me a complete copy of the Site FAQ, like so many have
> |before, thanks, but I already have a copy.
I really would advise a bit of compassion on this point.
While I too find it funny to say "thanks, I already have a
copy", I think the people who do this are frustrated enough
without smartass responses. I believe that virtually all
such cases are people who hit the wrong key and then could
not figure out how to abort.
You've perhaps used pine? Or tin? Hit the wrong key and get
dumped into something you don't understand. Or even into
the ninth circle, aka vi. I have yet to figure out how to
get out of vi. I always end up breaking the connection to
kill it. And I have a lot more experience than most people
on the net. Enough experience to know that breaking the
connection almost always works.
But even GUIs can be confusing to beginners. Don't let
anyone claim that even the best UI is "intuitive". Nothing
about any computer is intuitive. Some interfaces are
easier, but to a beginner the distinction often does not
matter a great deal.
I was new once. Got my butt slapped good. I wanted to kill
that doctor, but I just screamed instead. So I prefer to
ignore the extra copies without making wisecracks.
Edward Reid