"Alex Miller" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>Let me ask you this. If you got into an airplane, a Cessna 150, and I handed
>you a key, could you start it? Is the key what starts it? Should you turn it
>like a car key? Is there a difference between turning it left or right?
>
>Would you be an idiot if I handed you the manual and after reading it for a
>week, you made mistakes attempting to start it. If you read the manual,
>highlighted all the items you thought were important, had 10 questions about
>things you didn't understand, would you find it justified if I said to you,
>NEXT time you want to take a flying lesson read the manual.
If you try to fly a plane, and you don't even know how to start the
engine, you're an idiot.
If you try to fly a UNIX box, and you don't even know how to start a
network daemon, you're ignorant (AKA a newbie). If you're a newbie and
you don't realize it, you're probably an idiot. If you whine
repeatedly about how hard it is to become a non-newbie, and how
newbie-intolerant the world is, you're probably a whining idiot. If
you think you can "learn UNIX" by reading manuals for a week or two,
you're wrong.
Yes, it would be nice if all documentation was newbie friendly. But it
isn't.
Yes, it would be nice if everyone on every mailing list was infinitely
newbie and idiot tolerant. But they aren't.
Yes, it would be nice if newbies and idiots would refrain from posting
stupid, inflammatory, and/or off-track messages to mailing lists. But
they won't.
So what can we do?
Experts/old-timers:
be more tolerant of newbies and idiots
most newbies will either catch on or move on eventually
ignore them if you can't
produce more newbie-friendly documentation
Newbies/idiots:
be more tolerant of experts and old-timers
don't cop an attitude: your ignorance is not their fault
ignore them if you can't
avoid annoying the people most likely to have the answers you seek
Everyone else:
be more tolerant
ignore those you can't tolerate
-Dave
