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From: russ@silicom.co.il (Russ Hersch)
Newsgroups: news.announce.newusers,news.newusers.questions,news.answers
Subject: FAQs about FAQs
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Date: 7 Sep 1995 13:27:44 GMT
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Summary: This article is a description and primer on Frequently Asked
Questions (FAQs).
X-Last-Updated: 1995/08/08
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Last-modified: Aug. 8, 1995
This article is a description and primer on Frequently Asked Questions
(FAQs) articles and lists.
The following topics are addressed:
1) WHAT ARE FAQs?
1.1) What does FAQ stand for?
1.2) How is FAQ pronounced?
1.3) What do FAQs contain?
1.4) What are FAQs used for?
1.5) Where are FAQs found/kept/hidden?
1.6) What was the first FAQ?
2) WRITING A FAQ
2.1) Who may write/compile a FAQ?
2.2) Why write a FAQ?
2.3) What subjects are appropriate?
2.4) How important is accuracy?
2.5) What is the format for a FAQ?
2.6) What is the maximum size of a FAQ?
2.7) What is a header and do I need one?
2.8) Additional information
3) POSTING A FAQ
3.1) How do I post/distribute my FAQ?
3.2) Where do I post/distribute my FAQ?
3.3) How often should my FAQ be posted?
4) LEGAL STUFF
4.1) Do I need to copyright my FAQ?
4.2) Do I need a disclaimer?
5) APPROVAL FOR *.ANSWERS - THE BIG TIME
5.1) Why bother getting a FAQ approved for *.answers?
5.2) How do I get my FAQ approved?
5.3) FAQ maintainers
5.4) FAQ maintainers mailing list
6) ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
1) WHAT ARE FAQs?
1.1) What does FAQ stand for?
FAQ is an acronym for Frequently Asked Questions. It is also
sometimes used as the singular Frequently Asked Question (Although
when was the last time you heard only one question?).
Some have called it Frequently Answered Questions as well. This
isn't necessarily correct, but it isn't necessarily wrong either. It
effectively has the same meaning.
A compilation of Frequently Asked Questions (and their answers) is
referred to as a FAQ list or FAQ article. Sometimes the term FAQ
itself is used to refer to the article - as an example, I refer to
this article as a FAQ about FAQs.
The term FAQ has a meaning of its own that could almost qualify it as
a word of its own. Sometimes, FAQs are full of answers. Other times
they are policy statements for USENET groups, without the Question
and Answer format that is popular.
FAQs fall into the realm of articles called "Periodic Postings". In
addition to FAQs, other articles or compilations of information are
posted and/or archived.
1.2) How is FAQ pronounced?
FAQ is pronounced three ways:
1. By pronouncing the letters individually: F - A - Q
2. As a word: fack
3. Obscenely:
The first two pronunciations are the most common, and are used about
equally. Some will say F - A - Q if they are speaking with someone
that really doesn't know the Internet. Those who are lazy (me for
example) will use "fack", since it is easier to say. Often when
initiating a conversation it is useful to say F - A - Q, and then
once the subject has been established, "fack" should be sufficient.
You will notice that in this document I use the phrase "a FAQ" rather
than "an FAQ". This is because most of the time I say "a fack"
instead of "an F-A-Q".
Feel free to use whichever pronunciation you prefer and don't let
anyone bully you. Both ways are acceptable. If you use the third
way... well, you're on your own.
1.3) What do FAQs contain?
FAQs are compilations of information which are [usually] the result
of certain questions constantly being asked (posted) in a newsgroup -
hence the name FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions).
It seems that those who frequent USENET are a polite bunch. In my
house, the "frequently asked questions" that my three rug rats come
up with are usually referred to as stupid questions or pestering.
There is a lesson to be learned from this... before asking a question
in a newsgroup or mailing list, make sure that you've checked out the
appropriate FAQs. A frequently asked question can be a stupid
question if the answer is posted right in front of your face in one
or more FAQs.
Sometimes a FAQ or periodic posting is compiled as a result of
extensive research on a specific subject. A convenient way to share
the information with others is by posting the article. In this case,
the article might not really be a FAQ - that is, it isn't necessarily
based on frequently asked questions. However, the term FAQ is
sometimes used as a catch all term for articles, periodic postings,
compilations, etc.
It is becoming common practice to refer to some "off-line
documentation" as FAQs. Yes, it's true, off-line documentation still
exists, I actually saw some a little while back ;-). All sorts of
stuff now comes with support-staff-written FAQs, whereas they would
have been called Q&A sections before.
Many of the FAQs found on USENET or the Internet today (including
mine :-) could actually be considered NSFAQBTIWTS - Not So Frequently
Asked Questions, But Things I Wanted To Share (thanks to Robin Getz
for this gem). I've also seen them referred to as LFAQ (Less
Frequently Asked Questions). Is there no end?! Where is Chicken
Man, now that we need him?
1.4) What are FAQs used for?
Before asking a question in a USENET newsgroup, check out the
appropriate FAQs. If you can't find the answer to your question
there, then you can post your question to the newsgroup. Frequently
asked questions in a newsgroup tend to make the news hard to read.
With more news traffic, there is more to sift through. Do everyone a
favor, first try to find the applicable FAQs. Then read them. If
you can't find them, look for them. If you still can't find them,
ask where they are. Then read them.
If after reading the appropriate FAQs, you still can't find the
answer to your question, then you can post your question to the
appropriate newsgroup. It is recommended that after you receive your
answer(s), you post a summary to the newsgroup. It might also be
nice to notify the maintainer of the appropriate FAQ(s) of the
answers so that they can update their articles accordingly (keep in
mind that they don't always have the time to scan the newsgroups for
new information).
Don't assume that the FAQ maintainer is willing or able to answer
every question he or she receives. Some make every attempt possible
to answer as best as they can. Others either just get too many
questions to deal with, or they're busy with other things. Please
keep this in mind - it might be better to ask your question in a
newsgroup.
1.5) Where are FAQs found/kept/hidden?
Please do not ask the FAQ maintainer to mail you a copy of their FAQ.
They just don't have the time - believe me, I know. Instead, make
every possible effort to obtain the FAQ from the standard locations
described in this section (USENET newsgroups, archives, etc).
1.5.1) USENET
FAQs can be found all over the Internet. The most common place to
find FAQs are in USENET newsgroups. USENET is a distributed
discussion system that exists on the Internet and some other
networks. Many newsgroups have a FAQ specific to the subject of the
newsgroup. It is also common, in some newsgroups (that by nature
cover more ground), to have a number of FAQs on different, pertinent
subjects. Some FAQs that have been approved by the *.answers
moderators team (more on this in section 3) appear in the various
*.answers newsgroups (news.answers, comp.answers, sci.answers, etc).
A quick browse through these newsgroups will turn up many interesting
articles - do yourself a favor and check from time to time.
1.5.2) Mailing lists
Many mailing lists also have their own FAQs. Some mailing lists
automatically mail the FAQ to the list of subscribers. Other lists
send a notice advising subscribers how to get a copy. The second
option seems to be the most prevalent. An important reason for this
is that most FAQs are fairly large (some are even multi-part), and it
wouldn't make sense to periodically mail it out to an entire mailing
list. Some mailing lists automatically mail the FAQ(s) out to new
subscribers (probably with the hope that this will avoid stupid
questions), and then letting the subscriber retrieve updated versions
of the FAQ(s) by ftp.
1.5.3) Archives
Many FAQs are also archived. One important repository of FAQs and
other articles is the news.answers archive maintained by the
moderators of the news.answers newsgroup. All FAQs that have been
approved for posting to the news.answers newsgroup are archived at
the rtfm.mit.edu ftp site (and all of the mirror sites) in the
following directories:
By subject line -
/pub/usenet/news.group.name
/pub/usenet-by-group/news.group.name
By subject category -
/pub/usenet/news.answers
/pub/usenet-by-group/news.answers
and for the other *.answers newsgroups
/pub/usenet/*.answers (eg. comp.answers, sci.answers, rec.answers)
/pub/usenet-by-group/*.answers
By newsgroup hierarchy -
/pub/usenet-by-hierarchy/news/group/name
To find a FAQ by the newsgroup it belongs to, look in the directory
/pub/usenet (which is the same as /pub/usenet-by-group). There you
will find that each newsgroup has its own subdirectory (if
applicable). As an example, if you are looking for one of my FAQs on
microcontrollers, look in
/pub/usenet-by-group/comp.answers/microcontroller-faq. There you
will find three entries: 8051, 68ch11, and primer.
You can also search for FAQs by working your way through the
newsgroup hierarchy. Look in the directory /pub/usenet-by-hierarchy
and you will find a subdirectory for each newsgroup category (news,
comp, rec, alt, ...). Then just keep working your way down the
hierarchy by entering the appropriate subdirectory to find the FAQs
that you are looking for. For example, to find my FAQs on
microcontrollers, look in /pub/usenet-by-hierarchy. Go into the comp
subdirectory, and then go into the answers subdirectory. All of the
FAQs posted to comp.answers will be listed under this directory.
Instead of searching through the archive, many of the periodical
postings on USENET are listed in the news.lists newsgroup under the
heading:
"List of Periodic Informational Postings, Part * *"
These lists are archived at /pub/usenet/news.lists with the archive
names:
"List_of_Periodic_Informational_Postings,_Part_*_*"
If you do not have access to anonymous ftp, you can also send e-mail
to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu to get FAQs by e-mail.
Initially, try a message with no Subject: and just the following
lines in the body:
help
end
One useful command is the index command. This returns a list of the
contents of a particular directory. Some examples of how to use this
command are:
index
index usenet-by-group
index usenet-by-group/news.announce.newusers
index usenet-by-group/news.answers
Be warned that news.answers has a LOT of information in it. The
directory listing that will be sent to you by Email will be LARGE.
1.5.4) World Wide Web
If your system has a browser for the World Wide Web, then you can
access all of the USENET FAQs found in news.answers (and lots of
other good stuff!) at these addresses:
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/FAQ-List.htmlhttp://www.cs.ruu.nl/cgi-bin/faqwais
http://www.lib.ox.ac.uk/internet/news/faq/by_group.index.html [non-functional now]
The World Wide Web uses hypertext links, contained in HTML (HyperText
Markup Language) documents, to join pieces of information located
either at the same or different sites. The links are in the form of
URLs (uniform resource locators), a standard way of coding the
location of hypertext information.
Check with your system administrator or on-line service for more
information on how to access the World Wide Web.
1.5.5) Collections and Compilations on CD-ROM
This is a controversial subject among FAQ maintainers. Even my
mentioning this subject puts me in danger ;-). Many FAQ maintainers
(such as myself) object to the practice of some firms grabbing
everything available from the USENET archives (including many
copyrighted FAQs), putting it on a CD-ROM, and then selling it.
In some ways, the idea of a FAQ being distributed in a CD-ROM
collection isn't necessarily evil. After all, the main idea behind
writing the FAQ in the first place is to share information with
others. The CD-ROM is another way to share this information. It
even gives access to those who don't have access to the Internet.
On the other side of the coin, you'll find many FAQ maintainers who
think that the whole idea of restricting the distribution of FAQs
(theirs in particular) is misguided. That's fine - the owner of a
FAQ can set whatever conditions for distribution that they want.
The basic objection to the use of FAQs without the permission of the
author, is one of control over copyrighted material. The FAQ
maintainer works hard at compiling and maintaining the FAQ. The
issue is not one of greed, since it is clear that the FAQ maintainer
wants to share with others. It just isn't fair for someone else to
make a buck at it.
Some FAQ maintainers are fussy about the most recent information
being available. A FAQ on a CD-ROM is out of date - PERIOD. The
only place to get a FAQ, and be sure that it is up-to-date, is from
the appropriate USENET group (or archive). It should be the right of
the FAQ maintainer to decide what to do with the FAQ.
Finally, the practice of using copyrighted works without permission
is illegal. Most FAQ maintainers have a copyright statement, along
with the phrase "all rights reserved", appended to their FAQ.
Therefore, the FAQ maintainer, and no one else, has the right to do
whatever (s)he wishes to do with the FAQ.
If you come across such a FAQ (with the appropriate copyright
statements) in a commercial collection, please notify the company you
purchased it from that what they are doing is illegal. It would also
be appropriate and appreciated if you would notify the author of the
FAQ that his/her FAQ is illegally being sold.
Many popular magazines have advertisements for collections on CD-ROM
of Internet/USENET archives. I cannot verify whether they adhere to
the proper legal practices in the compilation and distribution of the
contents of their collections. I'm not even sure if I (personally)
agree or disagree with the practice. Please keep the FAQ
maintainers' interests (and feelings) in mind.
1.6) What was the first FAQ?
Eugene Miya is usually credited with being the author of the first
FAQ. Although, in his words, "I didn't do the very first FAQ, but I
probably did the first one of an informational nature." His article
might possibly be the first one that was called a FAQ. Eugene points
out that Mark Horton kept an "18 question" periodic post. This was
posted to "general", which was later called news.announce.*. It had
answers to questions such as "What does 'foobar' mean?" and "What
does 'unix' stand for?"
In 1982, while acting as an official NASA presence on the gatewayed
ARPAnet mailing list SPACE[-Digest]/net.space news groups, he tired
of seeing "dumb answers" to recurring questions. The situation as
Eugene saw it was that the answers to these questions were are often
poorly thought out, inconsistent, and uninformed. Furthermore, the
posters of the questions often weren't trying to find the answers
from books, magazines, or other references. They also weren't paying
attention to previous answers to these same questions. Rather, they
were just taking the easy way out - email the question and wait for
the answer.
Eugene therefore decided to start a series of monthly posts in 1983
to rectify this sorry state of affairs. The mechanism of periodic
postings was also a way to provide information to those who didn't
have access to the archives.
The first posts included the addresses of NASA Centers, some basic
references, etc. He also had a yearly posting trying to attract
summer hires for the various NASA centers. All of these are still
being posted, albeit by someone else now.
2) WRITING A FAQ
2.1) Who may write/compile a FAQ?
Anyone - no rule exists about who may or may not compile/write a FAQ.
If there is a need for the information contained, your FAQ will be
appreciated.
2.2) Why write a FAQ?
The Internet (and USENET) is frequently referred to as the
Information SuperHighway. You can argue the merits of this analogy,
but you can't deny that there's lots of stuff out there. The big
problem is finding it - and I mean BIG PROBLEM. It might be more
accurate to refer to the Internet as "the large, multi-storied,
over-crowded, Information Parking Lot." And the attendant is away!
One thing that I've discovered in the short time that I've been on
the Internet, is the willingness of those who frequent USENET to help
others find their way around this great big wonderful mess. A FAQ is
a good way to help lots of good folks at the same time. The first
FAQ that I wrote was as a result of my search for information on
Intel 8051 microcontrollers. I couldn't find anything for a long
time. I used Archie, Gopher, and lots of other methods that I either
read about or that friends recommended. In addition, I scanned the
appropriate newsgroups. However, all that I could find were the same
questions that I was asking. I nearly came to the conclusion that
the Internet was a waste of time.
After compiling a few facts, I put them together in a small article
(under 5K) and posted it to a few USENET newsgroups that seemed to
have a reasonable connection to the subject matter. In a short time
I was inundated with Email. Readers of my FAQ from all over the
world sent additions and corrections for the FAQ, requests to post to
other newsgroups, kind words of appreciation, offers of free software
and literature, and even a job offer. Today the FAQ is over 100K in
size and two other FAQs were born from the leftovers from this first
FAQ.
As a result of this modest effort, I have learned a lot. I have more
than enough information about the 8051 microcontroller, I learned my
way around the Internet, and I have made connections with a number of
really nice people. Even more, my FAQ had a snowballing affect.
Several other people are now either maintaining or starting FAQs on
other microcontrollers. In a short time, if a newcomer to the
Internet is looking for information on microcontrollers, a pile of
information will be immediately available, without the need for
months of searching. Hopefully, the same will be true about the
subject(s) that you are interested in.
2.3) What subjects are appropriate?
Just about anything. If you see the same questions always popping up
in your favorite newsgroups, a FAQ might be needed. Check first if a
FAQ exists, by looking in the USENET archives and by asking in the
newsgroup is such a FAQ exists. If there is no FAQ, and you know the
answers (or at least a good number of them), do yourself and everyone
else a favor. Compile the questions and answers together in an
article, and post it regularly to the newsgroup.
Just as important, make sure that your FAQ is made available to the
right audience. This means carefully choosing which newsgroups to
post it to. Often, requests from other newsgroups will inform you
that others are also interested in your FAQ.
2.4) How important is accuracy?
If you are maintaining a listing of all of the Gilligan's Island
episodes (yeah, there is such a FAQ, and it's great!), the chances of
causing serious damage to someone are pretty slim.
However, as a purely hypothetical example:
- if you are maintaining a FAQ on the Pentium processor
- you claim that the Pentium is 100% accurate and bug-free
- someone reads your FAQ, bases a project on this information, and
encounters a bug that has terrible consequences
- at the least, you will be considered vermin by your dear reader
- at the worst, you might find yourself being sued by same
Some FAQs are in the business of sharing information about different
products. This can be a bit touchy when trying to convey quality or
usability. Care should be taken when relying on opinions (even, or
especially, your own) or hearsay. Try to check out the details the
best that you can. You might consider stating if an item is opinion
or fact (whatever that is). Be open for suggestions. The inclusion
of a disclaimer might be called for, although it really shouldn't be
necessary (see section 4.2).
2.5) What is the required format and style for a FAQ?
No format is required. You are free to be as creative as you wish.
Keep in mind however, that the FAQ should be readable. Don't just
cobble together a document that has no organization or flow.
One common practice is to organize the FAQ as questions and answers,
much like this article itself. This fits in well with the name
Frequently Asked/Answered Questions. In other cases, it may make
more sense to organize your FAQ as a reference. That is, lots of
answers without the questions being stated (asked) specifically.
Some FAQs can use both of these techniques in the same document. One
part of the article can be in question/answer format, while the rest
can be a reference.
It is highly recommended that you establish a consistent and easy to
read format. For this document I chose to use a hierarchical
numbering system, but you may prefer another method (e.g. Roman
numeral, Capital letter, number, small letter). Indenting the text
also makes it easier to read the document (Ask just about any
graphics artist, and they will tell you that white space is
important). If you prefer a particular formatting technique, by all
means use it. Just please keep in mind that everyone will get more
out of your efforts if the result can be easily read.
In addition, a FAQ can be in straight ASCII, or in several other
special formats. I prefer using straight ASCII since it is more
easily accessible to a larger number of users.
One proposed format is "FAQs: A Suggested Minimal Digest Format".
This article is posted periodically to:
news.admin.misc, news.software.readers, news.answers
The author is:
clewis@ferret.ocunix.on.ca (Chris Lewis)
This article is also archived as:
faqs/minimal-digest-format
Another format is the html document standard for use on the World
Wide Web (WWW). This is becoming a popular way to "publish"
information, however there are some disadvantages:
- HTML is NOT an easy-to-understand language
- not everyone has access to the Web
It is becoming common practice to maintain two versions of a FAQ.
One is in straight ASCII and is posted to the appropriate USENET
newsgroups. The other version is in html and is made available on a
web site, giving the reader easy and instant access to the various
site links contained in the FAQ.
Grammar and spelling are also important. Poor grammar can cause
ambiguities and make it difficult for the reader to understand what
you're trying to say. Spelling mistakes are distracting, and can
also create confusion. Although it isn't necessary to work towards a
doctorate in English literature, take a few moments to review your
work and clean it up.
2.6) What is the maximum size of a FAQ?
FAQs have no size limit, although sometimes a system may impose
certain restrictions - 64K is always a magic number. I've also seen
100K used as a limit. In addition to system limits, FAQs that are
very large (over 64K) might be difficult to handle. You might
consider splitting your FAQ up into pieces, with each piece having
its own theme.
Many old USENET sites will not accept articles over 64k. Some
on-line services have smaller limits (32k for America Online). FAQ
maintainers have to make a trade-off between the universality that
they wish their FAQ to achieve, and the convenience of one large
article as opposed to several smaller articles.
The trend seems to be towards keeping FAQs in one piece, no matter
how large they get. I recently asked the readers of my
microcontroller FAQs if they wanted the FAQs split into multiple
parts or kept in one piece. Even though two of the FAQs are over
100K, and the third is approaching 100K, the results were unanimously
for keeping each of the FAQs intact and in one piece. The
convenience of not having to juggle different pieces of the document
(both for the author/maintainer and for the reader) outweighs the
inconvenience of an occasional newsreader program that can't handle
large articles. Also, most on-line services are in the process of
removing size restrictions, making the size of the FAQ more dependent
on personal taste, and less on "technology" (or the lack thereof).
2.7) What is a header and do I need one?
A header contains descriptive information about your posting. If you
post your FAQ by means of a newsreader, a [minimal] header will be
supplied automatically. This header is required by the posting
mechanism.
Providing additional header information isn't really crucial unless
there is a specific need (such as providing a version number). If
you are considering submitting your FAQ for *.answers approval,
certain header information is required. See section 5 for more
details about this. If you aren't worried about approval for now,
then you don't need to worry about the header either.
2.8) Additional information
There are several additional sources of information on FAQs and FAQ
writing.
David Alex Lamb's "FAQ maintenance aids":
http://www.qucis.queensu.ca/FAQs/FAQaid/
Infinite Ink's (Nancy McGough) "Finding and Writing FAQs and Periodic
Postings":
Finding FAQs:
primary - www.ii.com/internet/faqs/
mirror - http://ii.best.vwh.net/internet/faqs.html
Writing FAQs:
primary - www.ii.com/internet/faqs/writing/
mirror - www.best.com/~ii/internet/faqs/writing/
The bible for getting your FAQ approved by the news.answers team is
the *.answers guideline. This document has been recently revised by
Pamela Greene (one of the news.answers moderators) and is posted
monthly to news.answers. See section 5.2 for more information on
getting this document and having your FAQ approved.
Eugene Miya has an article "FAQ on FAQs n.g.FAQ" posted to:
news.groups (hint: the n.g. is short for news.groups).
3) POSTING/DISTRIBUTING A FAQ ......./ continued in Part 2
