[xsl] Specifying Response Style [Was: problem with transforming mixed content}]

["B Tommie Usdin btusdin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" <xsl-list-service@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Aug 15, 2020, at 1:47 PM, Imsieke, Gerrit, le-tex gerrit.imsieke@xxxxxxxxx
<xsl-list-service@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

...

> Maybe Tommie can include in the xsl-list instructions something along these
lines:
>
> "If you ask for a solution, indicate whether you prefer just a sketch or
actual code. And if you ask for code, indicate whether it should only narrowly
cover the presented use case or whether it should be robust against
complexities that are present in the real-life input. If the input that you
give is simplified (which it usually is), try to indicate in which regards the
actual input is different."

This makes me uncomfortable because it might be interpreted to mean that the
people on the list are obligated, or at least expected, to provide precisely
what the poster requests. XSL-List is a forum for discussion, which often
involves problem solving and sometimes includes provision of working code.
Sometimes the people responding to an inquiry are inspired to get deep into
the details of the poster's problem, sometimes they provide hints that will
help the poster solve the problem themselves.

I do not want people posting questions to the list to think that they will get
help-line-style responses, that they can specify what type of response they
will get, or even that they will necessarily get a response at all.
Conversely, I do not want to imply that active participants on the list should
provide a particular style of response to a posting. Among other things, I
fear that even implying that constraints such as this are acceptable will
reduce engagement on what is, for many, a useful place to share information.

-- Tommie

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B. Tommie Usdin
mailto:btusdin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Mulberry Technologies, Inc.
https://www.mulberrytech.com
17 West Jefferson Street
Phone: 301/315-9631
Suite 207
Direct Line: 301/315-9634
Rockville, MD  20850
Fax: 301/315-8285
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