| (convention) | frequently asked question - (FAQ, or rarely FAQL, FAQ list) A document
provided for many Usenet newsgroups (and, more recently,
World-Wide Web services) which attempts to answer questions
which new readers often ask. These are maintained by
volunteers and posted regularly to the newsgroup. You should
always consult the FAQ list for a group before posting to it
in case your question or point is common knowledge.
The collection of all FAQ lists is one of the most precious
and remarkable resources on the Internet. It contains a
huge wealth of up-to-date expert knowledge on many subjects of
common interest. Accuracy of the information is greatly
assisted by its frequent exposure to criticism by an
interested, and occasionally well-informed, audience (the
readers of the relevant newsgroup).
The main FTP archive for FAQs is on a computer called RTFM
at MIT, where they can be accessed either by group or by hierarchy.
There is another archive at Imperial College, London, UK and a
World-Wide Web archive in Ohio,
USA.
The FAQs are also posted to Usenet newsgroups:
news:comp.answers, news:news.answers and
news:alt.answers. | |