How To Ask Questions The Smart Way

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lostdog
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Joined: Wed 05 Oct 2005, 16:56

How To Ask Questions The Smart Way

#1 Post by lostdog »

http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

I was directed to this site when I posted a whine on another forum.
It's very informitive and I thought it would be good to post it here to help some. Actually, I wish I had seen this much earlier. I think it will help me as well. :wink:

Here is the disclaimer from the site:

[quote]Disclaimer

Many project websites link to this document in their sections on how to get help. That's fine, it's the use we intended
The truth is out there.

lostdog
Posts: 105
Joined: Wed 05 Oct 2005, 16:56

#2 Post by lostdog »

Sorry. I put this in the beinners help because it is good for newbies to read.
The truth is out there.

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Flash
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#3 Post by Flash »

lostdog wrote:Sorry. I put this in the beinners help because it is good for newbies to read.
I know, and thanks. :) I figured it would be buried quickly so I moved it to HowTo.

lostdog
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Joined: Wed 05 Oct 2005, 16:56

#4 Post by lostdog »

http://www.libervis.com/blogs/15/Jastiv ... rtfm_jerks

I found this today. Thought it was interesting, and got a laugh out of it.

You could say taht both are good arguments, but the second is infinitely
more usefull.
The truth is out there.

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rarsa
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#5 Post by rarsa »

I'm pretty sure that the Linux forum is quite friendlier than Eric Raymond.

He does not understand that 'how you say things' is as important as "what you say"

Reading the document it seems that what he is saying is common sense, but he says it through insulting everyone that may deviate from it.

Phrases like are quite confusing
Know what your topic is! One of the classic mistakes is asking questions about the Unix or Windows programming interface in a forum devoted to a language or library or tool portable across both. If you don't understand why this is a blunder, you'd be best off not asking any questions at all until you get it.
Of course I understand what he means, but he does not understand that one of the characteristics of newbies is that they don't know the different topic domains and the only way they will understand is by learning those domains which require asking questions.

After a quick read of the document one leaves with the impression that in many places he is saying "If you don't know, don't ask" which defeats the purpose of asking.
[url]http://rarsa.blogspot.com[/url] Covering my eclectic thoughts
[url]http://www.kwlug.org/blog/48[/url] Covering my Linux How-to

noip
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Joined: Fri 07 Oct 2005, 00:45
Location: Sydney

#6 Post by noip »

lostdog

You are a man amongst men. That page of ESR's is pure gold ... unfortunately people's egos too often get in the way.

..........

And as for ESR being a little touchy .. well, I can imagine that his touchy/feely side got to the burnout stage some time ago from people trying his patience. Reminds me of an article in a safety magazine I read a while ago about how our gene pool would be strengthened if we'd only cut out those pesky safety campaigns.

Now, where did I put that red?

Ah .......

GS

ftgs

lostdog
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Joined: Wed 05 Oct 2005, 16:56

#7 Post by lostdog »

noip, Yes I have seen people like that in my long years. And one thing I have discovered, is that those poeple are like that normally.
It's not in thier nature to be nice to people. I have seen it many times.
The truth is out there.

slvrldy17
Posts: 292
Joined: Fri 17 Feb 2006, 22:17
Location: Mid western USA

Good sites and advice....

#8 Post by slvrldy17 »

Both sites have good and useful advice - thanks for the links and the time you spent posting them. Perhaps a distillation of the advice might make a good sticky for the various forums here. Any thoughts?

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