On 15/12/06, Nicolas Frisby <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
... That's not to say it was the poster's fault: any question is a good question.
I agree ...
2) The "welcome to the mailing list" message could say "if you're new to Haskell, please check this FAQ first". I'm talking big letters here; I'd even be OK with <marquee>.
... hence I'd caution against such a rule. Part of the reason this community is welcoming is because there is no such barrier for people new to Haskell to ask questions. Everyone has a different mathematics ability and programming experience, and an ambiguously posed question is often just scratching the surface of what someone really wants to know. It's great that this community recognises that and responds accordingly. By contrast, many technical communities follow the advice of a document called "How to ask questions the smart way" by Eric Raymond and Rick Moen [0]. Although it contains some useful advice for individuals who want to find the answers to simply definable technical questions, imposing that advice on people who ask questions often ends up being elitist. For an example from that document: What [hackers] are, unapologetically, is hostile to people who seem to be unwilling to think or to do their own homework before asking questions. People like that are time sinks — they take without giving back, and they waste time we could have spent on another question more interesting and another person more worthy of an answer. We call people like this "losers" (and for historical reasons we sometimes spell it "lusers"). I hope the Haskell community never adopts such an arrogant tone. By all means, responders should politely refer to existing FAQ entries, and use the opportunity of answering questions to also improve the FAQ. At best, answering questions (the smart way ;-) should be thought of as taking part in a mathematical dialogue, not as a game of wits where the original poster is only given one chance to precisely formulate their question. cheers, Conrad [0] (which you can find by searching the Web for its title) _______________________________________________ Haskell-Cafe mailing list Haskell-Cafe@haskell.org http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/haskell-cafe
