How do you get Google to get the answer to a question.

[netman4ttm]

A few days ago I got this error when trying to mount a windows share into a FreeBSD server.

mount_smbfs: unable to open connection: syserr = Permission denied

When I put the error message into Google I got every forum where this question was asked. Great! This question has made the rounds. Problem --- no one answered the question or even worse the question was answered incorrectly.

Anyone have any suggestions in how to eliminate unanswered post from a Google search. I found the answer on a Dragon Fly BSD forum which the original Google search never even found.

Is there perhaps a better search engine for these types of questions?

[wige]

Hm, I think that type of query is what Ask was built for. However, with their limited (compared to Google) database, I tend to find their results more outdated. Conventional engines like Google and Yahoo are just going to look for text matches. I think this is what Wolfram Alpha and Bing aim to correct, but how well they will be able to do so remains to be seen.

Right now, I still use Google but I phrase the query as an answer rather than a question (rather than searching for the error message, I would search for what I was trying to do followed by troubleshooting, for example) in an effort to find tutorials which might deal with the problem instead of getting forum posts.

[oneofmanytims]

some ask-it forums have a standard message for unanswered questions like "this question has not yet been answered". if you exclude that statment from your search such as: '-"this question has not "' you'll eliminate some useless responses.

If you have favorite sites which usually provide good answers you can google just that server by including 'site:webproworld.com' -or something like that.

there are some nice search widgets from mozilla, as well as bookmarklets which you can find (or create your own).

[gsport11]

I find that what is worse than discovering all the unanswered questions or those that provide only wrong answers, are the situations in which the readers vote on the best answer. I am not convinced that truth is magically discovered because more people believe something to be true. It's applying "Family Feud" logic to legitimate problems.

Of course, if this is voted the best response, I'll gladly change my mind on this issue.

[netman4ttm]

Unfortunately, the SAMBA and the BSD forums don't note whether a question has been answered. I think I found the solution by using the terms BSD man and unable to open connection: syserr = Permission denied. At least Google figured out that I was looking for the man pages and not a male.

[deepsand]

Many of the seemingly wrong answers are oft times in fact correct. What is overlooked by many, both those asking & answering, is that a given symptom, like those of biological ailments, can be expressed by multiple different underlying causes. Just because a given "fix" did not work in the present, does not mean that it will not work in the future when the same error is observed.

I've frequently found that, by observing various different fixes that others say worked for them, but do not for me, I am able to discern a common factor such that I can reformulate my queries so as to elicit different results which ultimately prove to provide just what I need.

[oneofmanytims]

I find that what is worse than discovering all the unanswered questions or those that provide only wrong answers, are the situations in which the readers vote on the best answer. I am not convinced that truth is magically discovered because more people believe something to be true. It's applying "Family Feud" logic to legitimate problems.

Of course, if this is voted the best response, I'll gladly change my mind on this issue.

If enough people say its so, then its so. There's nothing complicated about that. What's wrong with you people ?

[earnest]

If enough people say its so, then its so.

NO, it's not always the case. The collective ignorance is a scary thing actually - the more some piece of BS gets repeated, the more convinced the repeaters seem to be.

In the real world, you have to fine-filter through the chaff to get a grain of reason.

[deepsand]

If enough people say its so, then its so. There's nothing complicated about that. What's wrong with you people ?
Well, it was once the case that enough people said that the Earth was flat, and that it was the center of the Universe; still, both falsehoods!

"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it." - Joseph Goebbels

"Truth always lags behind, limping along on the arm of Time." - Baltasar Gracián

"The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement. The opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth." - Niels Bohr

[oneofmanytims]

If enough people say its so, then its so. There's nothing complicated about that. What's wrong with you people ?


I spoke this in jest - just so you know. Most our biggest problems come from this misnomer.

[deepsand]

Perhaps the "wink" emoticon" ( ;) ) would have served to make that clear.

[oneofmanytims]

Thanks, deepsand .. . . forgot about that

[deepsand]

No problem; I've had the same lapses myself, and most likely will again.