The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Editorial Ash Nallawalla ash@melbpc.org.au |
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Last month I talked about the decline of newsgroups in general and made it clear
that I was talking about external newsgroups. I also said about our own
newsgroups, "Our own melbpc newsgroups provide a safer experience but you'd be
crazy to rely only on them for getting a range of opinions on your PC problems."
You might want to look at your previous copy of PC Update at this point.
It caused some consternation in melbpc.general and generated the
following Letter to the Editor:
A More Positive Expression Please
Dear Ash,
I am worried that your expression "you'd be crazy to rely on them for getting a
range of opinions on your PC problems" will dissuade some members from trying
the melbpc newsgroups. A more positive and less pejorative way of conveying your
meaning would have been better.
If anyone is not sure about whether it is worth their while using the melbpc
newsgroups to ask for help or guidance with their PC problems, I thought I would
write briefly about melbpc.computing.misc which is the main group for discussing
PC problems.
When I have a PC problem that I post to melbpc.computing.misc, I know I can rely
on Melb PC members that use the newsgroups to: provide a solution if they have
one; point me in the right direction if I don't know where to look; and solace
and companionship to ease my frustrations if they can't provide technical help.
For me, it is just like any other forum where Melb PC members help each other
with their PC problems.
I have had a lot of help from members through this group, both for my own
problems and iHelp problems that I have not been able to solve on my own.
Speaking about the melbpc newsgroups in general, they are a wonderful asset to
Melb PC. They are the only way that members who otherwise don't know each other
can communicate using their computers. I just wish that more members would try
them out.
James Cox
iHelp volunteer
James appears to have missed a key word only when I said "you'd be crazy
to rely only on them for getting a range of opinions on your PC problems". Given
that I also participate in those internal newsgroups and help out some people
with their computer problems, I certainly assert that people should not rely on
my contributions as authoritative. Get a few other opinions.
What is so wrong with what I wrote? Please help me out here. I believe that
nearly every computer problem can be solved by searching Google (not just the
Web but also newsgroups). To me, asking for a solution in any small, internal
newsgroup (on any ISP) is like asking only your office PC guru for a solution.
You may get the best answer; or you might not. If you don't know how to discern
the best answer by doing your own search, then by all means ask in our
newsgroups.
If you have visited our newsgroups and do not participate there, please e-mail
me (for publication) and say why. If you haven't, please visit and participate.
I agree with James that our newsgroups are a friendly forum.
Reprinted from the May 2003 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
