What Does *boot* Mean?

It can have a couple of meanings.

It can mean to 'bootstrap' a computer (ie, load the operating system).

It can mean to kick someone out of IRC Chat.

In this case I think the poster is moving old threads to the top of the forum. Check and see if the post right before the *bump* is a very old post. I usually see that as *bump* instead of boot.

Sometimes it's warranted, but usually requires an explanation of why you're doing it. It's generally considered very bad nettiquite to just bump the thread without a reason and explanation, and bumping too many threads generally gets you banned from most forums.

 

And from an English poster it can also mean "trunk."

 

I would submit that if a thread began by asking a question, such as
"rate your buying experience", and then got buried under hundreds
of other threads, it's perfectly okay to bump it to the top for the
sole purpose of keeping it visible and encouraging more people to
send in responses. Bumping something meant only to be inflammatory,
like most of the political tripe, would be less acceptable.
.
_H*

 

There must have been several dozen bumps overnight by a relatively new member. It was quite time consuming to go to all these old thread only to see nothing but *boot*

Moderators?

 

I'm the guilty party.

I get frustrated when people start polls and I know we already have one (or more) on the subject, possibly even one over a year old with lots of responses and therefore pretty "valid" (relative to what PC can expect, of course).

So last night I went back through 135 pages of Main Forum threads and 40 pages of FHOP threads looking for polls, especially ones on political leanings and the ages of members, as those were two started within the last few days. I found a few interesting ones and *booted* them up, including the two that have the greatest number of responses of all PC polls that haven't been lost in a crash. (The biggest is, "Would you buy another Prius?")

Quite a few newbies have become active participants recently, and I did it primarily for them.

 

Any reply to a post will bring that thread to the most recent posts list.
Our friend Ghostofjk's been doing some late night reading, and is trying to revive a few discussions in a good way.

edit: And a lot of research! Here's hoping we can resume some civil exchanges of ideas. Thanks for your efforts.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ghostofjk @ Jun 4 2006, 08:16 AM) [snapback]265573[/snapback]</div>

Instead of making the rest of us go to countless old threads, you could have simply started a new topic to alert newer members and posted links to all the ancient discussions that you found so interesting.

:angry:

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(aaf709 @ Jun 4 2006, 09:29 AM) [snapback]265558[/snapback]</div>

But the first meaning of boot in English is a kind of footwear, usually leather and reaching above the ankle.

A trunk in English can be the main part of a tree, an elephant's nose or a large box with a hinged lid.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Oxo @ Jun 4 2006, 11:17 AM) [snapback]265650[/snapback]</div>

This meaning of the word trunk is closer to the description of the luggage compartment of a motor vehicle than the word which is used in other parts of the English speaking word that is commonly used to describe a type of footwear.

 

I have been on for a while so I don't remember if "instructions" for use existed when I originally signed on. It would be great if newbies could be tutored in the use of "search" so that they could review and revive old threads on same subjects before starting new ones.

 

I was gonna say, the search engine here is reasonably good but seems
to have a little trouble with multiple terms. And there's the
google method. Maybe something up front [presented only to not
logged in guests, or relative noobs?] should encourage using the
various search stuff before starting new questions/threads/whatever.
When people just start banging stuff in with no regard for prior
art, it contributes to unbounded but unconstructive growth of the
database, and that's going to bite us someday.
.
_H*

 

I think it's a great idea.

 

Wiki's are good!

I've always seen/used the term BUMP for this boot business, btw. I boot my cars, I boot my computers, I may even boot my dog on bad days. But I BUMP my threads.