LinuxQuestions.org Turns 9

wabbalee · 07-24-2009, 08:22 PM

@AndyGaskell:

Quote:

So although there are 407,152 members, I'd guess there are ten times as many people who have been helped by the great content on this site.

you are right,

I think many non-members and members (includes me) come here to find a fix for a problem without placing a new thread or even a single post and find a fix. The good thing now is that as a member you can show your gratitude to other members with a single mouse click, without typing a word.

JohnE1 · 08-03-2009, 03:17 PM

LQ.org quickly evolved into "thee place" to go with Linux Questions.

It's at the top of my list of Linux sites I recommend to others.

Great work--great site!!

Thanks bunches, Jeremy!!!!

Best regards, JohnE1

P.S. What brought me here today?
Why, a Linux question, of course.

raskin · 08-05-2009, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by H_TeXMeX_H

Maybe a stronger or better captcha. Or, because they always post one single post, force people to post their first post in the intro forum. Or, warn users of LQ about such posters and to ignore them, and mods to delete them. Or, all of the above and other things too ...

Warning users always seems to be a good idea.. Quick deletion requires some threshold to distinguish quickly learning newbies from never-learning bots.

I do not like the idea of forcible intro post for the reasons of my personal background on LQ (look up my first 6 posts - I came here to host a big HOWTO in Success Stories and to accmulate posts to be able to post some links I simply found 5 fresh threads with easy questions asked but not yet answered).

Maybe "before asking questions you must either answer a someone else's question or introduce yourself" is more sensible than a forcible intro.

If automated measures are considered a good thing, maybe tagging first post with big warning "Original poster may be missing forever" after the topic gets 24h old, gets 10+ answers and OP has never posted a second post in the same thread will be reasonable. Banner can be deleted by OP (by editing his message) after he stops to satisfy conditions (i.e. answers somewhere).

Yes, bots can be taught to always post exactly two equally vague messages. But maybe then we will slowly force bot writers to create bots who actually contribute just to evade moderation reliably. That would be a good thing.

DotHQ · 08-05-2009, 03:09 PM

Happy birthday LQ. Good job Jeremy. What a great resource this has turned into.

Quote:

Originally Posted by raskin

Maybe "before asking questions you must either answer a someone else's question or introduce yourself" is more sensible than a forcible intro.

I don't like the idea of a forced intro. Nor do I see how we can expect a newbie coming here to be able to answer a question before they can post a question. Many come here with no Linux experience. Forcing them to answer a question would send them packing.

I like LQ as it is. No muss no fuss. An easy to use resource. Post if you want to. But if you find what you are after without posting, more power to you. It is an inviting community and if folks get a good answer once they'll be back. And when they are comfortable with it they'll join, post and be a part of the LQ community.

raskin · 08-05-2009, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DotHQ

I don't like the idea of a forced intro. Nor do I see how we can expect a newbie coming here to be able to answer a question before they can post a question. Many come here with no Linux experience. Forcing them to answer a question would send them packing.

I generally agree with you. I never said that "intro or answer" is more sensible than simply "no links in the first post", as it is now. I just tried to honestly explore the proposed path of search. My idea was that if any automatic filtering is done, any confirmation that the member is not a bot of the fixed set making all the trouble currently should be more than enough to drop all automated defenses that can impede posting.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DotHQ

I like LQ as it is. No muss no fuss. An easy to use resource. Post if you want to. But if you find what you are after without posting, more power to you. It is an inviting community and if folks get a good answer once they'll be back. And when they are comfortable with it they'll join, post and be a part of the LQ community.

To take what you say to logical conclusion, we would need (well protected by captcha) totally anonymous posting options. The only problem is tracking the poster identities. It proably can be solved, although I am not sure what is the best solution. The question is whether the benefits are great enough to balance the needed (hopefully one-time) effort of the team who do lots of work for the site as it is.

DotHQ · 08-05-2009, 04:22 PM

First off I did miss that you said either an intro or answer a question. I see where you are coming from but still prefer neither. There are other ways to stop bots before they get in the door. Bots have figured out how to read the random letter but ask a simple question that most would know the answer to and the bots miss it. I've switched my verification over to all questions on my forums. It has cut out the bots entirely.

Quote:

Originally Posted by raskin

To take what you say to logical conclusion, we would need (well protected by captcha) totally anonymous posting options. The only problem is tracking the poster identities. It proably can be solved, although I am not sure what is the best solution. The question is whether the benefits are great enough to balance the needed (hopefully one-time) effort of the team who do lots of work for the site as it is.

I probably didn't explain myself clearly but I do not want an entirely anonymous community. I like it like it is now. It works. JMHO

raskin · 08-05-2009, 11:45 PM

Well, if you are not being targeted specifically you can get away with whatever you want as long as it is not widely used. I use simple math questions like "((7-3)*8)=?" on a site that has no unverified (or generated by a verified person) user-entered content in public access.

LQ has to put more effort into CAPTCHA because there are specifically LQ bots. Sometimes they post boring intros and quite relevant questions about Linux with some link spam in the signature before disappearing forever.

Suggestion about anonymous posting was just what it seemed - question about how far openness should go.

gangettan · 08-07-2009, 11:33 AM

9 rocking years ... Congrats jeremy!

linux

edenCC · 08-15-2009, 02:32 AM

Happy Birthday, LQ!
Thanks for the people who helped me a lot here, this should be the best linux forum that I know!

okcomputer44 · 08-20-2009, 05:14 PM

Happy Birthday LQ!!!

All the Penguins everywhere are dancing!

bowbalitic · 08-21-2009, 03:34 PM

I'm still fairly new to linux and I have to admit there is no site out there that can compare to linuxquestions.org, and as Jeremy said the support from lq's members are phenomenal thank you all, I am proud to be a member of this site!

BigEd · 08-27-2009, 12:54 PM

although today is my first day on the site.

Hb_Kai · 09-04-2009, 07:57 PM

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LINUX QUESTIONS!!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by H_TeXMeX_H

Alright, here are the suggestions I came up with:

1) The hit-and-run posters (possibly bots) are a bit of a problem. You know the posters that post a single post consisting of a short phrase with little elaboration on the problem, just a very general badly worded question, and then people fill the thread with all sorts of possible answers because the scope of the question is so broad. The OP never posts again and the thread fades into the abyss, a useless waste of time for anyone who posted in it, and also for the ones who read it. It's usually either a question that has been asked before (by other bots) or a question that is too broad to be answered sensibly and thus the answers vary widely, and anybody seeking help from this thread is also wasting their time, because your chances of finding a working answer are very low for the aforementioned reasons. Now, this problem of hit-and-run posters has been posed before, and I'm not sure if there exists a solution ...

Maybe a stronger or better captcha. Or, because they always post one single post, force people to post their first post in the intro forum. Or, warn users of LQ about such posters and to ignore them, and mods to delete them. Or, all of the above and other things too ...

Or having a limit of characters which can be used in a single post?

Something like

Quote:

I have a problem. My Linux computer doesn't connect to the Internet but my Windows does. What is the problem?

takes up like, 100 characters(?).

..but something like

Quote:

I have a problem. When I have tried installing the driver for my Linux computer, I get this error < ERROR: HEUgtkbkg ruwigtiug - mumbo-jumbo ...... > and I don't understand what this means but everything works fine on my Windows laptop so I doubt it can be anything to do with my router/hub.

takes up (I SO can't be bothered to count but) a lot more characters than the first.

Another thing is I sometimes find it not too graphically pleasing here at this forum, I know it's just a forum and there's no need for fancy colours and stuff but it may please others a little more if there were personal layout options for that user's account.

Other than that, it's a really cool forum, the people are nice too.

Especially one guy who, when I was completely new to Ubuntu said that he had a similar laptop to mine and that I'll get used to it eventually.

jacknelson · 09-13-2009, 05:21 AM

I am new here and I am already excited. A late Happy Birthday to LQ forum!

Now I want to add up that those numbers show indeed how big this forum became over time but let's not forget there are many visitors that find an answer to their problems on this forum and don't necessarily get to register an account here.

I mean I am one of those people on many forums. Now I want to try and help others here.

lhorace · 09-13-2009, 02:25 PM

I just signed up to this forum about few weeks ago and got an answer promptly by GrapefruiTgirl (Big up to you) when I was about to lose hope in forums. Sometimes I don't know how to ask a question(s) about the problem I'm facing and try give as much information I can provide not knowing what to provided. I know for people out there who want to help and find it annoying and frustrated by

Quote:

You know the posters that post a single post consisting of a short phrase with little elaboration on the problem, just a very general badly worded question,

This is a community and for people out there who go above and beyond, we all happy ya'll exists! I don't know where I would do without you guys. I want to return the favor, thanks.