On Thu, Nov 29, 2012 at 08:08:45AM -0600, Jim Graham wrote: > Look at it from the other direction---you're on an e-mail list, where > people ask questions, and other people use their own free time and > volunteer to help those asking the questions. It is perfectly reasonable > to expect that the person asking the question > [snip] > B) take the time to post the information needed to help (e.g., in the > Android developers list, that would be the purpose of your app, > what you were expecting, what really happened, relevant//suspect > code, and relevant log (logcat) output);
To the extent that a less experienced person is able to determine what would be helpful. If someone new shows up with an incomplete question, I will usually try to draw him out. Someone who ignores such advice, though, earns being ignored in turn. [snip] > D) post in the format used and preferred on said list...that means > default line wraps, top//mixed posting, proper trimming, useful > subject lines (that does NOT include things like "Hi", "Help me", > "My app won't work", etc.); I've toyed with the notion of Yet Another Header to present a compact encoding of a list's local rules and collective preferences. One problem is that one is trained in certain behaviors on one list, and then needs to discuss something on another list where the expectations are different. [snip] > If people can't be bothered to take the time to do these things, more > often than not, the gurus on the list won't bother to take the time to > answer. It's a question of mutual respect, consideration, courtesy, > etc., and if you don't like that, well, that's the way it usually is, so > get used to it. Yes. Now, there are those who appear to be struggling with their own limitations, and they often get help anyway. I will put forth more effort for someone who is making a sincere effort in turn. Others give the appearance that they just don't care, and that perceived attitude infects me: I don't care much about answering someone who isn't even trying to make himself understood. It's an uncertain judgment, but one very difficult to avoid. [snip] > > > Allowance for non-native English authors is good, in my experience, on a > > > variety of technical lists. > > On that, we definitely agree, but the OP should still try to find a good > translator...obviously, some are MUCH better than others. But then, I > have also run into several (some of which I consider good friends OFF > of the list) who, while not a native English speaker, speak (and type) > better English than many native English speakers...better spelled, better > grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and vocabulary. I just wonder > which nation's school system is the most responsible for that..... That's been my experience too. To read something written by someone who has mastered his own native language, but not mine, is usually easier for me than to read writing by someone whose first language is English but who has never really learned to use it. When a poster starts off by apologizing for his English, I have learned to expect that I will have little trouble understanding him. -- Mark H. Wood, Lead System Programmer mw...@iupui.edu I don't do "doorbusters".
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