>If I ask one of my neighbors what kind of fencing I need to
>keep goats from escaping, and his reply is, "somebody answered that just
>last year, so go look it up on www.goatfence.com," I wouldn't find that to
>be a friendly response.

Bill,
I understand your point and it is a good one. But your analogy of asking the
list being like asking a neighbor falls short in some instances. For
instance, keep in mind that while your neighbor is always there (or will be
home shortly) the list members come and go. When someone asks a question the
person with the best answer may or may not be reading the list postings.
However, there may be three or four who remember the guy's post from last
June. In this case it makes great sense to refer the guy to the archives of
last June.

In addition, some topics have no easy answer. For instance, auxiliary
batteries. There are many different solutions to this problem... some of
them less safe than others. It would take me a whole day to try to summarize
everyone's solution that I have read. I prefer to state the basics and refer
the guy to the postings from last winter... he will truly get the best
education that way.

And remember, we are all human and truly sometimes get tired of answering
the same old question... referring someone to the archives is better than no
answer at all.
And even if you don't get referred to the archives, on anything important or
anything that involves safety it is best to go to the archives to get other
opinions whether you got a current answer or not... that's because I have
seem many WRONG answers posted while the correct answers are in the
archives.

So how about giving us a break... we all put in the time that we can at the
moment.
If I don't see the correct answer posted and don't have time to write out an
answer, I will continue to refer people to the archives... especially if I
have some idea of what time period he will find his answer.

Bill

>
>Bill (SE Arizona) (Bill@freeholder.com) HTTP://www.freeholder.com
>----------------------------------------------------------
>Censorship is the assassination of ideas.  No matter how well-meaning its
>proponents may be, they are more dangerous to us than any outside enemy.
>