On Mon, 17 Jan 2000 18:03:45 +0000 (GMT), you wrote:
>A common newbie dilemma is "Where do I turn for help?" Instead of calling
>his/her question "stupid," it would be much more productive if we pointed
>this person in the right direction toward the answer.
Nice answer. And this has been done before, And it is not unusual
to see that person get flamed for doing just what you said do. I have
seen folks tell the newbies, "check the list archives", for
example..."your answer is there", and then get flamed by that newbie
and others for daring to tell them to check somewhere else for their
answer, and not just giving them a detailed 2 page answer.
Its not hard to do a search of the list archives. The suggestion for
every member to do just that is right there when they sign on to the
list.
Also members of the list at various times are told to check certain
faqs, guides, or other sources for their answer. And will then
recieve a reply like, for example.."Possibly people got tired of,
--------------, and being told to check the archives when it would be
just as easy to answer the question?."
And it doesnt matter how nicely the list member is told to check
another source, many times, just the suggestion is taken as an insult.
The result? One or more pissed off newbies and maybe an semi-expert
who has helped many newbies who decides to ignore anymore requests for
help from the newbie list.
No...the questions themselves arent stupid, but maybe the people
asking them are too lazy to try to find an answer for themselves.
>
>If a person get's annoyed by seeing a question many times, I suggest that
>he/she send the answer via E-mail to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]"
>(http://www.mandrakeuser.org). If the question is asked again, anyone on
>this list can then point this person to the above site. This saves retyping
>an E-mail, and the "solution" is also edited by Tom Berger before he posts
>it to the site.
>
>BTW - http://www.mandrakeuser.org is a wonderful site for anyone running
>Linux Mandrake. It is a site that's specific to Linux Mandrake and designed
>specifically for newbies. I've used it plenty of times.
>
>
>best,
>Matt
>
>
>
>>From: "Wendell E. Gragg" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>>Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>>Subject: Re: [newbie] Stupid questions
>>Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2000 08:02:15 -0700
>>
>>Good point! If I read right, the title of this list begins with the word
>>"newbie", thus intimating a fundamental lack of knowledge of many who ask
>>questions here. It would be hoped that a newbie list would be patient and
>>understanding of those, who like myself, have just entered the world of
>>Linux and are trying to grasp its operation.
>>
>>Reading Howto's and docs are fine, but what is often missing is a cohesive,
>>step-by-step tutorial on how to use the operating system. Especially for
>>users who are very new to computers, alot of hand holding is necessary.
>>
>>I am glad that the person who first made the impatient and frustrated
>>response is not indicative of all on this list. After perusing it for
>>about
>>10 days now, I have found that most of those who reply to questions are
>>patient and understanding. I certainly hope that it continues as I am
>>getting frustrated enough to try to post a question about my problem
>>printing from Mandrake to this list. BTW, before I post it, I have read
>>almost every Howto and have referred to several books on the subject to no
>>avail!
>>
>>Just my .02!
>>
>>Wendell Gragg
>>[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>----- Original Message -----
>>From: "Joseph S. Gardner" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>>To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>>Sent: Monday, January 17, 2000 7:58 AM
>>Subject: Re: [newbie] Stupid questions
>>
>>
>> > Steven P Hull wrote:
>> >
>> > > If you people would read the documentation that comes with EVERY
>>version
>>of
>> > > LINUX you could probably answer about 90 percent of the RE-ITERATED
>>stupid
>> > > questions that get asked. Get with the program people. Look in you
>>HOWTO's
>> > > that come on the CD's. They are also installed on your hard disk if
>>you
>> > > told it to when you installed Linux.
>> > >
>> > > Steve
>> >
>> > Let's see, new machine, new hard drive, someone gave me this cute little
>>CD
>> > with linux written on it and said "If you need any help a great place to
>>look
>> > is [EMAIL PROTECTED]", and I thinks to my self "What a cool
>>idea,
>> > thanks I'll try it."
>> > then I read something like the above and thinks to myself "What a sorry
>>bunch
>> > of self-centered pompous $%+&!@ ".
>> >
>> > Nice piece of penmanship. I wish I were perfect and knew everything
>>about
>> > something new before I tried it, but since I'm not, thank God for the
>> > understanding people who populate this list ( OK, most of them anyway ).
>>I
>> > certainly hope that the attached message is not what we've become.
>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > Joseph S. Gardner
>> > Senior Designer / Technical Support
>> > Kirby Co., Cleveland, OH
>> > [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>> >
>> >
>> >
>>
>
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