[olug] Unix Tip: I SED BLANK

[William E. Kempf]

Christopher Cashell said:
> At Mon, 24 Feb 03, Unidentified Flying Banana Eric Penne, said:
>> What is the point of the OLUG list?  I thought it was to help people.
>> These tips help people.  Whether they help you or not, they fit into
>> what this list all about.  There is no need for an olug-tip list.
>
> The point of this list *is* to help people.  But these tips don't help
> all people.  As you said yourself, they may not help me.  Judging from
> some of the other comments, I'm not the only one.

Hardly any post and the subsequent replies "help all people".  That's not
a qualification for the posts usefullness or validity.  And even the poor
tips have helped some of us, especially when commented on by others with
more appropriate solutions!

> Whether or not we should have a separate mailing list is debatable.
> Personally, I'd rather have that than our current situation, where I'm
> forced to receive what I consider Spam.  However, I may be in the
> minority here.

I could live with a seperate list, but the problem is that it would be
less likely to generate any heat, and it's the follow up criticisms that
have been more useful.  I expect even you will eventually find something
interesting in a response some day, provided you don't kill file the tips.

> One thing that worries me, is what will be next?  We're currently
> getting daily e-mails with Unix Tips.  Will we next be getting daily
> e-mails with Linux Tips?  Perhaps Perl Tips will be next?

I understand both sides of this debate, so maybe we do need a seperate
list(s).

> Also, please remember that not having these sent to the mailing list
> will not in any way lessen their ability to help you.  You are still
> more than welcome to subscribe to them personally.  All it does is stop
> them from being forced on everyone.

Not true.  The actual list does nothing but send you the daily tip, which
is of questionable utility in many cases.  When posted to an interactive
list we also get responses pointing out the issues and solutions involved
with the tip.  I might find 1 out of a few dozen of these tips useful on
their own.  I've found at least a third of them to be useful after the
heat generated on the list.

-- 
William E. Kempf