Date: Tue, 05 Oct 1999 00:28:17 -0700 From: Darryl Okahata <darrylo@sr.hp.com> To: Wes Peters <wes@softweyr.com> Cc: "Daniel C. Sobral" <dcs@newsguy.com>, freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Developer assessment (was Re: A bike shed ...) Message-ID: <199910050728.AAA04586@mina.sr.hp.com> In-Reply-To: Your message of "Mon, 04 Oct 1999 21:44:00 MDT." <37F97400.BBA4643B@softweyr.com>
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Wes Peters <wes@softweyr.com> wrote:
> Darryl Okahata wrote:
> >
> > ... however, how the H*LL are the clueless newbie hordes supposed
> > to know or learn this? As much as we'd like them to be, they're not
> > exactly born with this knowledge, and I somehow doubt there's an "XXX
> > for Dummies" book that covers this.
>
> The old-fashioned way: look before you leap. It is common courtesy to read
> any newsgroup or mail list long enough to get a feel for it before jumping
> in and making an ass of yourself.
The "old-fashioned way"? While the "look before you leap"
philosophy, which is excellent advice, has been around Usenet since time
immemorial, I've yet to meet or hear about anyone that's actually done
it (when they were a newbie, that is), although people here could be the
first.
As much as we'd like people to follow the "old-fashioned way", the
Usenet/Internet is a strange, unfamiliar place. Even intelligent people
have trouble applying "common sense" to it, at least at first. Treating
all questions as "novice crud, to be shunned/insulted", is not very
productive. It makes the FreeBSD crowd look like they're saying "see
figure 1" to all newcomers.
[ For those of you young enough to not know what "see figure 1" is, see:
http://www.things.org/~jym/fun/see-figure-1.html ]
> We shouldn't have to rename a list called
> freebsd-hackers into freebsd-hackers-clueless-newbies-stay-away just because
> a couple of children have trouble accepting that nobody had the time to
> answer their questions.
I agree. I feel the same way about adults who act like children.
However, people seem to be treating all "non-advanced" questions as
"useless novice crud, to be insulted and shunned". There's got to be
something in the middle ground. On the one hand, you definitely don't
want to cater to the lazy, but you also don't want to treat all
"simpler questions" as crud. It's like using an incinerator to kill
fleas on a dog; yes, it works, but it has undesirable side-effects.
If someone sees one of these "simpler" questions, they should
either ignore it, point them to the FAQ (assuming that the FAQ has an
answer), or post a polite answer, without emotionally-loaded phrases.
> This is and has been common courtesy on Usenet newsgroups and Usenet,
> later Internet mailing lists, since I've had Usenet access - about 1985.
> If you don't know that, you don't even belong on the net, let alone this
> newsgroup.
Ah. This here's a pefect example of an emotionally-loaded and
possibly insulting sentence. Yes, what is said is largely true, but
it's said in a fashion that is, well, rude (this doesn't bother me, but
it would definitely bother other people).
--
Darryl Okahata
darrylo@sr.hp.com
DISCLAIMER: this message is the author's personal opinion and does not
constitute the support, opinion, or policy of Hewlett-Packard, or of the
little green men that have been following him all day.
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