Re: NO, MICROSOFT DOES NOT SEND OUT SECURITY PATCHES, IT IS A VIRUS!

From: Daniel Billingsley (dbillingsley_at_NO.durcon.SPAAMM.com)
Date: 05/22/03 

Date: Thu, 22 May 2003 09:01:04 -0400

I don't really mean to be be attacking the poor people who truly need help.
However, in a newsgroup the flood of posts asking questions that could have
been easily answered with a few minutes of responsibility and searching take
away from the overall value of the newsgroup to those needing more advanced
help. For illustration - if there were 1,000 posts here a day by people
asking if Microsoft sent them a virus, we'd all just unsubscribe and then
this would become a useless resource for those truly needing more advanced
help.

It's much like a spammer suggesting that "It's no big deal - can't you just
hit the delete button?"

I don't mean to argue here, and I've certainly been known to answer those
questions myself sometimes, but I hope you can see the other side of this
too.

One of the things may be helpful is for someone to take on the task of
compiling a FAQ of these types of questions and then posting it here about
3-4 times a day with the subject "FAQ - read this before posting your
question" or something like that.

"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"
<lanwench@heybuddy.donotsendme.unsolicitedmail.atyahoo.com> wrote in message
news:OUN%23ZTAIDHA.2220@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
> It's everyone's first time, some time. Cut people some slack. You aren't
> getting paid by the post to answer NG questions, I presume, so the simple
> answer is: don't reply to the ones you feel grumpy about.
>
> Jason wrote:
> > * Charles Otstot <saries@nc.rr.com>:
> >>
> >> "Torrey" <TRitter@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> >> news:eeFW005HDHA.672@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
> >>>
> >>> Because they are f'ing lazy asses who don't want to RTFM or learn
> >> anything.
> >>> They deserve every virus they get plus 1.
> >>>
> >>>
> >> BZZZZZZZZZTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!! WRONG ANSWER!!!!!!
> >>
> >> Use a little thought and have a little compassion Torrey...
> >>
> >> The vast majority of those who post these questions are not newsgroup
> >> habitues. They are more often ordinary, everyday people who use a
> >> computer to perform ordinary, everyday tasks. If they are technical
> >> at all, it's on a very rudimentary level. Those who want to learn
> >> more will do so, but without making the mistakes that *all*
> >> inexperienced people (I've hated the word "newbie" for nearly 20
> >> years) make.
> >
> > Then they should learn to do a search. It's not that hard, I use a
> > text newsreader and I see about 50 from the start asking the same
> > question. And when I go to the MS website and access this group I see
> > at least a dozen all asking the same question. All without my ever
> > reading a post just the subject lines.
> >
> >> These folks are simply looking for a
> >> helping hand from those they consider more knowledgeable and who can
> >> either allay their fears or assist them in preventing those fears
> >> from resulting in (perceived) disaster. They deserve to be treated
> >> with respect and kindness, not ridicule and insults. It doesn't take
> >> but a minute to answer the question, why waste that time with
> >> vitriol? It hasn't helped anybody and makes it that much more likely
> >> that the questioner will shy away from learning more and will really
> >> encounter problems down the road.
> >>
> >> Religion aside, you really are your brother's keeper. If we're not
> >> willing to help others, we become less than nothing ourselves.
> >>
> >>
> >
> > Im no ones keeper but my own. I and probibly many others have no
> > problem helping out if someone has a problem but also we expect a
> > little leg work to be done by the person who has the problem.
> > Little things like doing a search to see if this is a common
> > problem etc.. They get short answers and insults because
> > after the 50th time you see the same question asked by someone
> > too lazy to do any work you get a little grumpy.
> >
> > Jason
>
>