I feel people should be allowed to bump up their threads if certain criteria are met. For example, sometimes we really are stuck, and need help. We have posted a thread, and it has got lost in between other posts. We've googled around, but to no avail. So I think the user should be allowed to bump it up in this case.
Of course this facility should not be abused. It should only be used sparingly. Maybe there should be a button "bump up thread", that can only be used say 1 day after the last post to the thread. Also, everytime someone bumps up their thread, a message is sent to the moderators so that they can check for repeat offenders or abuse of this service. Finally, a bumped up thread should be shown as such, so that people who do not wish to answer to bumped-up threads can ignore them.
James, you are welcome to start your own site and enforce whatever rules you please. Everybody thinks his problem is important. Everybody is "really stuck". We do not not have enough experts to answer every question. Bumping threads, emailing modes, pm'ing mods and double posting does not help this. If you want instant answers to every question you need to hire a unix expert to work with you. There are many reasons why folks decline to answer a question...
sometimes we don't know the answer; sometimes it's a question
we answer that question several times every week; sometimes we are being asked to write a book rather than a post; etc. This is a volunteer effort.
When I have free time I try to answer as many questions as I can. One way I find questions is too search for threads with zero responses. Indeed, this is exactly how I found this thread. Bumping a thread guarantees that I will miss it with this technique.
When I need to mop up after someone who has double posted, or bumped it takes time that could otherwise be spent helping people who follow the rules. Also we have thousands of users and I cannot spend the time to debate each rule with each user who doesn't like it. That it why I will close this thread.