=- Derek Martin wrote on Thu 20.Jun'13 at 17:58:16 -0500 -= > [I think people should take note: this comment clearly suggests that > Paul, like many people, has had negative experiences asking relatively > simple questions on mailing lists like this one, if not this very one.]
True. > > I normally just start Googling and usually find an answer somewhere. > > List requests work though. > > The problem with the RTFM answer is that TFM is (in many cases, and > certainly in the mutt or emacs cases) rather long, and if you don't > already know exactly what you're looking for, finding that one thing > you need can take hours. True. > When what you have is basically a 2-second question, reading the > manual is a waste of time. Depends. On our expectations from users using tools. We (especially the 2 of us) had discussed this before. We didn't agree. Now imagine _everyone_ would do the same 2 second-question rather than rtfm. The list would be flooded with such "basic & simple" requests. (not to speak of not directly related to mutt itself) Wouldn't that be a waste of time for those trying to find the really needy cases: (closely) mutt-related and not (well) covered by docs? > Asking on a mailing list, where someone (or many someones) almost > certainly knows the answer without looking it up, AND will reply to > you usually in less than 5 minutes, while you go make yourself a nice > cup of tea, is a much more productive and less frustrating way to > solve the problem, and should be encouraged, not discouraged. > Otherwise why are we here? See above. But not to make one side happy and reject the other, how about this: we get 2 lists, one for the basic&simple stuff (mutt-users), the other for "advanced" (mutt-adventures). Have some moderators sitting on the basic- line forwarding the advanced stuff (&users) to the other list. Would you volunteer? -- © Rado S. -- You must provide YOUR effort for your goal! EVERY effort counts: at least to show your attitude. You're responsible for ALL you do: you get what you give.
