Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 14:22:30 -0700 From: David Johnson <djohnson@acuson.com> To: Damon Hammis <squirrel@hammis.com> Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Just curious Message-ID: <39737916.6B17E54C@acuson.com> References: <Pine.BSF.4.10.10007171627320.44367-100000@markl.com>
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Damon Hammis wrote: > > I've been a user of FreeBSD for sometime now, and have subscribed to this > list on different occasions. (Usually when I've come to a roadblock and > simply cannot figure out the answer or find a solution in the archives or > on the site) One thing that I've noticed is that for the most part people > on the list try to help out as much as possible, but at least once or > twice a day I see really snotty responses to questions posted on the list. > I'm really curious as to why you would say "Read the FAQ" or "It's on the > site somewhere" rather than just give the answer if/when you already know > it. Well, it depends on the question. If someone writes here with the question "how do I install FreeBSD", they deserve to be flamed to nice shade of charcoal. This isn't the Windows world where no one is expected to read anything. Some questions, by their very nature, demonstrate that the questioneer has not even cracked open the manual. Ditto for those questions that keep getting asked every week like clockwork. Serious questions of an honest nature are always tolerated here. What people can't stand, however, if being used as someone's first informational resource. By telling the questioneer to read the FAQ or the Handbook, an extreme amount of patience is being shown, and the newbie might actually get it into his head to read the FAQ first the next time a problem comes up. Bandwidth is limited. This includes not only the mailing list bandwidth, but also the amount of time people have to answer questions. Why take a half-hour out of your day to answer a question in sufficient detail when a mere reference to an appropriate site takes only one minute to type? I've gotten to the point that I have to type out "first install X11..." again, I'll scream! David To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
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