[R] Trailing on r-help messages

[Spencer Graves]

<see in line>

hadley wickham wrote:
>> I think that is likely true but it would at least mean that they had
>> seen it repeatedly and there would really be no excuse for not following it
>> (unlike the current situation where one needs to take action to follow
>> the posting guide link and then read a lengthy page).
> 
> Logically, that makes sense.  However, try asking a group of R users
> how to cite R (or how to find out how to cite R).
> 
> I think it's a good idea to make the default list signature as good as
> possible, I just don't think it will have that much effect.  Supplying
> a small reproducible example when reporting an error is "common-sense"
> (how else will the developers/others be able to replicate it?) and yet
> it is very rare (not just in R, but in any project).
> 
	  I believe the introduction of the posting guide actually increased 
the quality of the posts.  I didn't affect all posts nor even a 
majority, but it did impact enough that we are seeing some benefit, I 
think.  My only solid evidence of this are the infrequent but nonzero 
number of comments from people who acknowledging finding answers to 
their own problems by actually walking through the Posting Guide. 
Polya's "How To Solve It" has NOT been read by every mathematician or 
statistician, but many people have read it, and what they've learned 
from Polya comes out in contributions to this listserve.

	  Best Wishes,
	  Spencer Graves

> Hadley
> 
> ______________________________________________
> R-help at stat.math.ethz.ch mailing list
> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help
> PLEASE do read the posting guide! http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html