On Tue, Apr 1, 2025 at 8:57 PM Andrew M.A. Cater <amaca...@einval.com> wrote: > > On Tue, Apr 01, 2025 at 06:17:38PM -0400, Jeffrey Walton wrote: > > I see the changing of title or subject to add things like "SOLVED" is > > not included in the FAQ. > > > > Can we infer it is frowned upon or unwanted? > > Good evening Jeffrey, > > No, I don't think you can. > > > > Off-topic arguments also have a habit of derailing useful discussion. > > > > > > Editing and answering mailing list posts > > > ======================================== > > > > > > * It is helpful to write meaningful subject lines. If you change subject > > > or emphasis in mid-thread, please change the subject line on your email > > > accordingly so that this can be clearly seen. > > > > > > For example: New question [WAS Old topic] > > > > > I think this covers it - as does the prior discussion on this list
I don't think it applies. It is not a new thread. > > > * It may also be useful for someone to post a summary email from time to > > > time to explain long threads. > > > > > This might also be a good indicator that a [SOLVED] Problem ABC would > make a good final entry in a long thread. That sounds more theoretical than practical. "SOLVED" threads continue to run-on. "SOLVED" does not act as the terminal like people expect. Confer, mailing list archives for last month (or any other month): <https://lists.debian.org/debian-user/2025/03/threads.html>. Additionally, on forums, marking a question as "SOLVED" points to a specific answer and locks the question so more discussion is not needed. Neither of those happen when moving the practice to a mailing list. > > > * Clear replies and a short mailing list thread are much easier to > > > read and follow than long threads. > > > > > > I can't see what I want here - help me! > > > ======================================= > > > > > > * It is often useful to look through the archives to see whether the issue > > > you wish to raise or a similar issue has been raised before by someone > > > else. The top level link to the archives of this list is at > > > https://lists.debian.org/debian-user/ organised by year, then month. > > > > > There are several instances in the archives where [SOLVED] has been used. Which does not seem to mean what folks expect. They do not serve as a terminal where folks can go for the final answer. They merely serve as a subject or title change that continue to run-on. So folks who find the first half of the message with the problem can't find the second half of the message with a run-on discussion of the possible solution. > > > * Although there are only twenty or thirty regular contributors, there may > > > be a couple of thousand readers in the background. Nobody is > > > a mind reader, nobody can sit beside you. Please help by providing > > > useful details if asked, especially which version of Debian you are > > > running. > > > > > Details of solutions might always be useful I don't think we need "SOLVED" to do that. > > > I'm not using Debian but ... > > > ============================ > > > > > > * Strictly, discussions of other distributions are off-topic here. > > > Please note: advice on Linux distributions other than Debian will be > > > only our best guess - other distributions may do things very > > > differently. > > > > > [SOLVED] Use Debian :) > > You have, however, made me realise that the lines in the FAQ may be too > long once quoted. Jeff
