novice netusers

[The News System <news>]

>>   I don't mean to be nasty but can't something be done to people
>>who send messages like this:
>> [request to be removed from mailing list follows]
>
>No. Education. Digesting maybe. Not really. Sending a gripe to the
>whole list just doubles the noise however (this triples it!) Perhaps
>administrative issues should be sent to "unix-wizard-request".

The following is a suggestion not a gripe (limited noise injection).

Education yes!  Where is he/she to get the requisite education?
Unless a novice net user is lucky enough to have a very conciencious system
administrator at his/her site the education is very haphazard. 

Many new users enter the networking arena without formal education in its
proper use.  Armed with only a net address and a mail program they attempt
to use a system containing some nasty monsters that snap and growl at the
networking faux pas.

I suggest that there be a short daily posting which points to a clearing house
for novice users.  The novice (and some of the old timers) need to learn
networking techniques, network manners, and network ideosyncracies.

This is not a problem unique to this mail group.  Not all readers of
"unix-wizards" are networking wizards (yet).  I consider myself in the
novice category.  My scars are a persistent reminder.

Please contact me if you have suggestions about the nature of the
clearing house or have information that you would like to submit to
such a mechanism.

Flame on this if you will, but the problem will not go away by itself.
	
					D.A.R.Y.L.

ARPANET:	daryl at mitre-gateway.arpa or daryl at gateway.mitre.org
Telephone:	(703) 883-7278
U.S. Mail:	Daryl Crandall
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