On 13/02/06 22:12 +0530, Varadarajan V wrote: > Hi, > > I am new to linux. when I say new I mean I am not an expert > linux user. As a user who benefits from a list like this
That is fine. Most of us (including me), are not experts. > I would like to say something. I never ask questions before > I do a search (not only in google) or as u say without Reading TFM. > I try to get the solution by myself all the time. I like linux a lot. > I suggest people to use linux. I tell them there are excellent people > around who can guide you anytime you have a problem. I strongly > believe only linux has got such a wonderful community unlike Windows. > But when I see posts like these I definitely fear asking questions. > Nah, if you have put in effort and not got answers, the list is usually not a bad place to ask. If you can show what you have searched for, it helps us figure out terms you have missed and we can point you to those. > As a novice I thank you all for providing such a great support to linux > community. Though I hardly raised 1 or 2 questions, I started liking > linux only after I see this wonderful community. It gives me a feeling > I should contribute as much as I could to this community. For a user > like me every word you say in this list matters. > > Why this community has to compare itself with a job of a call center > person? If the list becomes the first point of support, then it is being used exactly as a call centre. Keep in mind that first point of support lists are almost always commerically priced. > This time and effort that you put in here is worth as good as the one who > took the time to write a kernel and made it publicly available. > > Let me ask you one question. I believe this list is to help develop > linux and help > people to use linux. If this is correct why people here compare themselves > with those providing technical support. You should realise you are doing > something great than even those providing tech support. You can always Call me cynical, but that _really_ doesn't do much good. If the list is being used as tech support, then the people doing that should be willing to pay for it. > guide people to ask good questions like the one in this link > http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html. > If they do not comply with this you always have the choice of not > answering his questions. What more is required for a user to understand > when his question is completely ignored? > The fact that his/her question is actually answered in the manual. The point of writing documentation is so that others can read it and benefit from it. If the documentation is not clear, it can be enhanced easily by anyone. If users are not going to read documentation, then the time of the documentation writer is being wasted. Writing good documentation is harder than it looks. Devdas Bhagat -- http://mm.glug-bom.org/mailman/listinfo/linuxers
