[mythtv-users] Can't change channel...

Bj0rN bj at ih.nu
Tue Mar 25 20:42:50 UTC 2003


Hi Joe,

Interesting points.  One of my jobs is to answer customer support questions
via email, forum and phone for our products.  We have regular "arguments"
internally about when to send the user to the manual and when to regurgitate
it to them.  We've come up with this rule of thumb...  "If the manual
clearly states the answer, point them to it.  It will do what Robert said -
teach them how to use it and help w/future Q's.  If it's not in the manual,
tell them and add it to the manual.  Finally, if it's "sort of" in the
manual - as you suggest for this point, then tell them the full answer and
add the clarification."

I think this example could fall into that third category, but only because
you thought of additional "potential" questions or problems the user could
be having.  That's how our docs become better and better - by watching what
people ask, and beefing up those parts of the manual that people seem to
stumble over the most.  One of our team members constantly argues that "It's
not our job to teach them the basics of xxx" (substitute Linux/paths/etc.
here).  If we start doing that, where do we stop?  He's got a point.
However, we argue that we'd rather err on the side of "too much" rather than
"too little".  Heck, for the real gurus, the docs could be nothing more than
a list of bulleted items to install.  Most people (myself included) treat
every word like "gold" since as Linux newbies, we can overlook the obvious
and think we're fastidiously following every step perfectly yet have it
fail.  You're right, unless it says to create that folder /mnt/store people
won't do it, and things will fail.

Thanks,
JC

----- Original Message -----
From: "Joseph A. Caputo" <jcaputo1 at comcast.net>
To: "Discussion about mythtv" <mythtv-users at snowman.net>
Sent: Monday, March 24, 2003 11:51 AM
Subject: RE: [mythtv-users] ringbuf1.nuv

> My point is, if someone asks a question like "So, how do I setup this
MythTV
> system?", then sure, tell them to go RTFM.  But, if someone asks a
question
> (even if it seems obvious to you) requiring a brief 2-line response, then
I
> don't think it's inappropriate to respond with a brief solution coupled
with
> a reference to the appropriate docs.




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