Stress Testing Hard Drives

[Jonathan Hutchins]

On Sunday 01 July 2007 11:50:36 pm Jeffrey McCright wrote:

> Ladies and Gentlemen, TAKE A HINT! This is why newbies don't look long to
> the KCLUG for support, and quite possibly one of the reasons why people
> don't give Linux a second look. I have several friends whom I have directed
> to the KCLUG and after posting one or two questions to the list, have given
> up on the list. I no longer point non-technical people to the list as they
> get frustrated and offended. There it is.

Well, while this is one of the finest collections of technical minds generally 
accessible, it's also home to a few folks who base their answers entirely on 
wild speculation and personal theories rather than actual knowledge and 
experience.  I would think that would tend to discourage them as well.

Sometimes, when someone asks how to do something, it's a good idea to ask them 
why they want to do that, and to discuss some of the possible implications of 
doing it.  Yes, shooting yourself in the foot will probably get you out of 
jury duty.  Yes, I could respect your choice of action and merely tell you 
how, but perhaps I could explore other alternatives instead.

The KCLUG mailing list is a discussion list for members of the LUG.  We are 
under no obligation to assist technofeebs, or even to promote Linux.  If some 
of us choose to do so, that is a nice side effect.

P.S.: The drive testing utilities on the Ultimate Boot CD page are probably 
the closest thing to a good answer we'll have here.