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 Forum index » House Training » HOWTO ( Solutions )
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
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lostdog

Joined: 05 Oct 2005
Posts: 103
PostPosted: Fri 31 Mar 2006, 00:15    Post subject:  How To Ask Questions The Smart Way  
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 — but if you are a webmaster creating such a link for your project page, please display prominently near the link notice that we are not a help desk for your project!

We have learned the hard way that without such a notice, we will repeatedly be pestered by idiots who think having published this document makes it our job to solve all the world's technical problems.

If you're reading this document because you need help, and you walk away with the impression you can get it directly from the authors, you are one of the idiots in question. Don't ask us questions. We'll just ignore you. We are here to show you how to get help from people who actually know about the software or hardware you're dealing with, but 99% of the time that will not be us. Unless you know for certain that one of the authors is an expert on what you're dealing with, leave us alone and everybody will be happier.

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lostdog

Joined: 05 Oct 2005
Posts: 103
PostPosted: Fri 31 Mar 2006, 13:27    Post subject:  
Sorry. I put this in the beinners help because it is good for newbies to read.
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Flash
Official Dog Handler


Joined: 04 May 2005
Posts: 9850
Location: Arizona USA
PostPosted: Fri 31 Mar 2006, 16:28    Post subject:  
lostdog wrote:
Sorry. I put this in the beinners help because it is good for newbies to read.

I know, and thanks. Smile I figured it would be buried quickly so I moved it to HowTo.
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lostdog

Joined: 05 Oct 2005
Posts: 103
PostPosted: Fri 31 Mar 2006, 20:07    Post subject:  
http://www.libervis.com/blogs/15/Jastiv/eric_raymond_and_the_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.
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rarsa


Joined: 29 May 2005
Posts: 3053
Location: Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
PostPosted: Sat 01 Apr 2006, 22:08    Post subject:  
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
Quote:
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.
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noip

Joined: 06 Oct 2005
Posts: 93
Location: Sydney
PostPosted: Sun 02 Apr 2006, 07:22    Post subject:  
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
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lostdog

Joined: 05 Oct 2005
Posts: 103
PostPosted: Mon 03 Apr 2006, 21:10    Post subject:  
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.
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slvrldy17

Joined: 17 Feb 2006
Posts: 288
Location: Mid western USA
PostPosted: Thu 06 Apr 2006, 10:24    Post subject: Good sites and advice....  
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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