What FAQs are wanted or needed?

[A. Clay Stephenson]

Hi folks,

I've been following this thread and I am really of two minds. Let me start by saying why I avoided these forums like the plague until the middle of March of this year - I could never find anything that I was looking for OR I found zillions of hits but alas with no relevance. The fundamental problem then and still is though to a far lesser extent the quality of the search engines. A search engine that truly understands boolean logic would go a long way towards solving heaps of problems and would really eliminate the need for FAQ's.
If my search really returned only those threads that contained XXX and YYY and ZZZ and no others, most problems are solved. The answers are already out there though there are far too many of them.

What I would really like to see happen is a tremendous pruning of the forums; that might be the benefit of FAQ's. e.g. - How do 1 print the 2nd and 5th field in a line. There must be zillions of answers to this level of question where the answer is use awk like this.

A lot of work would have to go into putting together the FAQ's. The ideal result would be the 'approved' method of replacing a mirrored root disk. The other side of this is that Forum members should be encouraged to respond - see FAQ # 567. Points should be awarded to the person giving the response and THEN the fluff answer see FAQ xxx should be deleted after some period of time - to avoid filling the forums with more junk. I suppose if there are many queries of the same type then possibly the FAQ should be revisited and a few keywords added to increase the hit rate.

One thought I have is to use possibly the top guys under each category to 'approve' an answer
and formulate the FAQ.

I think what we are all looking for is not some point generator but rather a forum filled with useful and interesting threads.

At some point Jeff and Dan need to chime in and tell us what their thoughts are.

Regards, Clay

[Christopher Caldwell]

I like Clay's idea - I might go one step further, to have the top folks in a category essentially editorialize / combine responses to get a good, informative, approved solution.

[Mark Vollmers]

Clay has a good point. Not to dog on HP, but I don't think that a FAQ page would be generated by them due to time and resources. I know that we all have real jobs (or so we claim) and it would take time away, but if the info was complied and submitted, it would be easier for HP just to build the page and links. The trick would be to find the "correct" or preferred solution, and to have someone knowledgable in that area to sort through and determine that (the HP offical way vs a commonly used shortcut?). Maybe small commitees of experts in each area?? It would take some doing, but would be worth it if the info would be easy to find and the search engine could be improved.

Mark

[Rita C Workman]

I like Clay's idea too...
And I have no problem with 'Royals' or those highest in each category editorializing something like this. I think JRK has proven his ability to track things down and put them in a neat package...look what he just did for dating each Royal. (Don't you luv me taking your name in vain, Jim..ha ha)
How's bout it JRF, Clay, Patrick, Stefan, etc....

Now...once again I see this as a task that needs good working conditions...un-interupted...and away from the daily irritations at our jobs. OK...how's bout Hawaii or Tahiti, Paris, London..I'm not picky. I'm more than willing to help type. Heck I'll type all you need...

What d'ya say? Dan....guys....it's a plan...

It's Friday...can you tell I'm ready to head out and forget it all till Monday (provided I'm not paged this weekend..)

Regards,
Rita

[Wodisch]

Hello gang,

thanks for answering - even if you did NOT add examples for FAQ ;-)

Michael: seems my pictures are not that blury, if you want the scns, tell me...

Richard: We do have a lot of "personal thoughts" on the forumrs, don't we (and even "food" for them ;-)

Stefan: perhaps I'll ask Dan for "Evergreens" instead of "FAQs" next time?

Lou: very good idea - going from re-active (FAQ) to pro-active (known issues)! Tell Dan over on the November thread (it's your idea!): http://forums.itrc.hp.com/cm/QuestionAnswer/1,,0x1cbf4e49c5cdd5118ff40090279cd0f9,00.html

Christopher: for the "blessed" answers you'll have to ask "Saint JRF", I believe :->

Sachin: see, you've got points, and lots of, right?

Rita: You are not evil enough to play devil's advocate...

Clay: good points

Mark and Rita: Perhaps the only way to get this implemented.

Rita: If you get that job to be done in Hawaii or Tahiti - would you accept me as your sidekick???

Kind regards,
Wodisch

PS: Thank you all for whishing me a nice trip - it did work

[Michael Tully]

Hi Wodisch,

Glad you had a good trip.... As for the pics
I'd like to see one with you standing in Red Square with a "sharpka" on sitting at a desk with a screen and a keyboard!!!

haha

Actually any pic would do.

Cheers
-Michael

[Wodisch]

Hello Michael,

I'll have to learn *gimp* to be able to work on the moscow-pictures...
But as soon as they are scanned, polished, and the picture of me has been put into them, you'll get them!
BTW: what is a "sharpka"?
Am I supposed to wear that in public??? Does my Linux-PDA pass as a valid "screen and a keyboard"? See attached pic...

Regards,
Wodisch

[James R. Ferguson]

Hi Gang!

Wodisch, I believe you are already aware of this fact [ being the keen observer that you are ;-) ]. I have recently noticed that a good FAQ link to various Knowledge Base documents exists on the ITRC Forums Home page. At its botton right, note "response center FAQs" with links to software & hardware.

If one follows, for example:

software related -> HP-UX System Administration -> HP-UX LVM FAQs ->
Creating a mirrored boot disk

...then one can find the answer to the ubiquitous forum question of how to create a mirrored boot disk!

Now, if we can get my proverbial horse to drink from this well...

With my warmest regards!

...JRF...

[Eileen Millen]

My problem for the last few days was trying to setup Ignite 11i depots.
Software Support pointed me to this:
1.Start at http://itrc.hp.com
2.Click on the Maintenance and Support Center (ESC) link
3.Login with your username and password
4.Under "Self Solve Tools" select "Search Technical Knowledge Base"
There you can "Search by Keyword" with the "Search Criteria" marked as "All Words". You will want to search on the phrase:

ignite 11i depots

This will bring you document:
Creating 11i Core-OS depots with Ignite-UX utilities (Doc ID# IUXKBRC00007088).

Eileen

[Wodisch]

Hello JRF,

my problem with these FAQs is: they are not visible to "plain" forumers (which most will be, I guess) - I have already complained about this (but do not remember where).
Take me, for instance: on the forums I usually *work* (read: hang around, having fun) as technically plain user (no support handles attached), as I do not like public attention on for mission critical areas.
And being *plain* it tells me:
Not Authorized for this Content



You have attempted access to content for which you are not
currently authorized.

(Error 11014)

So, your proverbial horse will have to show his/her support-handle to be admitted to the water - all others will die of thirst :-(

Just my ???0.0000000000002,
Wodisc

[Michael Tully]

Hi Wodisch,

A "sharpka" is one of those funny furry
hats that Russians wear in the winter.
Not sure of the spelling in English...
The first time I went there back in
Feb-99 my wife wanted me to buy one....
I said a polite "no thank you" and
bought a beanie instead.
The PDA passes with flying colours,
except next time don't have the pic
sideways.... it's kind of difficult to
see!

Cheers
-Michael

[James R. Ferguson]

Hi Wodisch:

Thanks, my friend, for noting the problem with the HP FAQ links. You are, of course, correct. I find that I am prompted to login if I am not, when I trigger the link. I have therefore added the following to Dan's November "Issues" thread:

/begin/

Hi Dan:

OK, here's a new feature suggestion, although the author may in fact be Wodisch.

In our discussion of the need for FAQ's (see Wodisch's thread below) I suggested that the software and hardware FAQ links on the Forum's Home page where an addition that went a long way to meeting the agreed upon FAQ need.

However, as Wodisch has pointed out to me, access to some (or all) of these Knowledge Base documents requires a support handle. In fact, I am prompted to login upon clicking the FAQ link.

I would therefore like to see the material HP offers in these FAQ links "declassified" to be publicly available. The ability for anyone to freely see some of these outstanding documents would actually strengthen the content of this Forum, hopefully by eliminating repetitive queries about the same, common subject.

/end/

Regards!

...JRF...