Can We have a new Category

[Shahul]

Hi

A number of scripting related questions are coming to forum everyday. I was thinking that, If we have a category for scripting, it will be easy for everyone.

now some of the scripting related questions are asked under "System Adminiostration", Some of them are under "General". If someone who is interested in Scripting, he has to go and keep searching for these questions and answers. I hope everybody got my Idea, What U say..???

[James Beamish-White]

I agree with the need, if my 2c counts ;-)

[H.Merijn Brand (procura]

I then finally could add a star to my profile :)

I follow HP-UX in general, not being the "general" category, but all HP-UX categories, so I realy don't care. I'd use it though, if appropriate.

[Pete Randall]

Like Procura, I follow the HP-UX general thread so, as long as scripting stayed under HP-UX general, it wouldn't matter to me. I do find it annoying when questions that I'm interested in get moved and I have to chase them into other categories but presumably that would not be the case here.

Pete

[Stefan Farrelly]

Good idea but I find there are far too many categories already - impossible to monitor them all.

I favour a reduction in the number of categories. The more categories there are the more dispersed questions become and the less replies you receive.

[Steven Sim Kok Leong]

Hi,

Come to think of it. How do the moderators actually shift postings from one category to another. Is it tedious or is it as easy as drag-and-drop (I doubt so)?

How is it done? Thanks in advance. Regards.

Steven Sim Kok Leong

[Peter Kloetgen]

Hi Shahul,

a very good idea in my opinion. You are right, scripting questions are posted here very often, and i like them most of all....

A scripting forum would be greatly appreciated!

Allways stay on the bright side of life!

Peter

[Justo Exposito]

Hi,

I'm with you, interesting idea.

Regards,

Justo.

[Alan Casey]

This is a great idea, it would also help for searching the forums for information on scripting.

[V. V. Ravi Kumar_1]

hi,

u r right, i think it will be very useful for persons who like scripting, better if Dan and Co look after it.

regds

[Trond Haugen]

Good idea.
Stefan; you can monitor them all if you select 'hp-ux'. The list will be long though.

Regards,
Trond

[James R. Ferguson]

Hi:

First, in my opinion, we already have this category as "languages" in the broad sense.

I think we already have enough categories.

More than anything, I'd like to see the author be forced to choose from a drop down category list that does *not* offer "databases" as the default.

Regards!

...JRF...

[Shahul]

Hi

Thanks for participating in this discussion.
I Agree U all. Some of U told that already we have enough categories, This is right. But what I feel is, Some of the catogories which are existing are having less importance than "scripting". Every day we are seeing atleast a couple of scripting related question, Where as U can see in some catogories, last question posted is almost 15 to 20 days back. Am I right?


Shahul

[Rita C Workman]

To category or not to category...that is the question.

Frankly it doesn't matter to me if they put it in a seperate category or not. I'll work with whatever is decided.

Mainly because if there's a sc ript I absolutely must have...I copy it and keep it on my PC under a directory called /rita/scripts...then I have it whenever I need it. And if it's something I want to keep around for quick referral here...I bookmark it.

Rgrds,
Rita

[Ceesjan van Hattum]

Although we have a category Languages, i agree that 'Scriptings' should be a seperated category.
But what will be the constraints: sh, tsh, ksh, csh + awk, sed..?
Or should Perl and Tcl/Tk included ??
Personally i would not include Perl.. but who am i?

Regards,
Ceesjan

[James Beamish-White]

Maybe we should not be asking if we have too many categories, but if we have the right ones? For example, if you have a look at the 'white papers' category, it's hardly used at all - so why not throw it into 'general', whereas I think I would get great benefit from just scrolling through a scripting forum to see what nifty commands others are using that I don't know I don't know :-)

Cheers,
James

[H.Merijn Brand (procura]

1. I agree with James R. that there are enough categories
2. *IF* there will be a categorie "scripting", "perl" should - of course - be included.

I've noticed from the reactions to my answers that it is generally highly appreciated to see how I do things in perl that are conservatively done in sed/awk/sh/...

Fundamentally, perl is a scripting language that was aimed to give a uniform interface to exactly that category of commands. I can't help that is has become so popular because of other glues like CGI and DBI :)

For me, "script" in a subject (as well as "sh", "awk", and "sed") is a trigger to read what they want, and then I try to find the shortest possible, most versatile, or most efficient answer in perl. This does fit the possible new category.

My way of answering is not always appealing, I know, and don't plan to change. People still like to get ready-boiled answers in sh/awk/sed with abundant explanation because they then understand what they read and don't have to study. My answers get therefor less points although the solution is shorter/faster and the result is the same. I realy don't care, because I know others still appreciate this.

Maybe above is partly a bit off-topic for the question, but I felt the urge to state it.

[Rich Wright]

I agree about a scripting category.
I would like to take it a step further and suggest that the forum software be modified to do a keyword scan and generate (or suggest) categorys as needed. Then when a new product or service comes along a category would be added if needed.

[Daimian Woznick]

I agree that a category for scripting could be found useful for people looking for answers and the people that would like to answer the questions. I also agree that there are a few categories that should not be there. The less used would be Training & Education, White Papers, Workload/Resource Management, and Planning.

Another thing I see is that people are not using these categories as they should be. For instance you will see security related questions in the general and system administration categories on a regular basis.

[Shannon Petry]

I think there are too many categories as it is. I dont even look in sub-categories anymore, but look in HP-UX and page through. I guess it would be different if I had knowledge of only HP-UX networking, or HP-UX databases.

I write scripts for automating user/group creation and file system maintenance. I also write scripts for the network in custom ypmake and ypxfr scripts. The only relation between the two is that they are scripts. Therefore they should be in separate categories.

Last, I see some people posting full scripts, which is their perogative. Note that I get paid to write scripts, programs, and tackle problems normal sys-admins cant. So think your taking $$ from a consultant when you give too much away.

Use the languages section for scripting questions. Just rename it languages/scripting.

Regards,
Shannon

[Martin Johnson]

I agree there should be a script category. There have been a lot of script questions and they would be easier to find if they were in their own category.

I think there should be a periodic review of all the categories and the ones not being used rolled into the general category. (Although those participants that managed to become the high scorers of that category may complain.)

Marty

[A. Clay Stephenson]

I think a new category at this point is a case of "closing the barndoor after the horses are out". It might have made sense initially but now one would have to search all the categories including the new "Scripts". I think 'Languages' already fills that roll though the scripts often wind up in 'Databases' simply because that is the
default.

[Wodisch_1]

Hi Shahul,

good point, you have made there!
But shouldn't we move this discussion to Dan's monthly forums thread over there:
http://forums.itrc.hp.com/cm/QuestionAnswer/1,,0xb747c4c76f92d611abdb0090277a778c,00.html
I notified him, so we can continue over here (for a while, at least)...

IMHO some categories are not as "intuitivly" named as they could, and some are used in a way different from their resp. names, or even both:
- "servers" and "workstations" could become something like "stations" and hence include Tru64 and Solaris stations, too
- "hpu-ux" and "Linux" could become "UN*X operationg systems" and then include Tru64 and Solaris (and others?)
- maybe "multifunction, copies,&fax..." and "printers" could be merged into a single category
- "print servers & peripheral..." could include the specialized App-servers and the web-consoles, and such, and be renamed to something fitting

Then we could have the space for new categories like "scripting", and "OpenSource", and "security"?

Just my $0.02,
Wodisch

[Shahul]

Hi

Wodisch, Thanks for notifying in Dan's monthly forum discussion. We hope it will happen. Whatever U mentioned here are appreciable except merging HPUNIX, Linuxt, Tru64..etc. I think it is better to have HPUNIX is as a seperate Category.

Thanks
Shahul

[Kimberly Ann]

Hi Shahul,

Let me look at this -- I'd like to hear from as many others to determine if this would be a utilized area in the long-term. Perhaps we could test it in HPUX discussion area first. Good thought.

Regards,
Dan