I have been following the discussions here since middle-May of this year. I have gathered that the volunteers strongly value precision of speech and proper formatting of posts and especially making a strong effort to solve one's problem(s) before bringing it(them) up here for help. I think I understand the frustrations that can arise when newcomer after newcomer continue to repeat the same basic posting errors, seemingly without end (May I never do the same!). However, I think that extra care may be needed in dealing with newbies who may only be taking a programming course using Python because of curriculum requirements. I'm sure I am stating the obvious to most of you, but, nonetheless, I think it is still worth saying (Again?). How one of you phrase your meant-to-be-helpful response can inadvertently prove crushing to someone who is very insecure in their programming knowledge, and in some instances, apparently, incite them to profanity.
In my first post here I inappropriately used the phrase, "begs the question." I soon was informed of the error of my ways! While educational (And, I confess, somewhat irritating.), these clarifications had nothing to do with the actual intent of my post. I shrugged it off, examined the comments and links about my offending phrase, and went on to appreciate the valuable helpful comments that I did receive on what I was really asking about. I only bring this up as a concrete example of an instance that might have caused a newbie to go elsewhere in frustration and anger, if I were thin-skinned about it. I am hesitant in even bringing these thoughts up, but it seems recently there has been a rash of anger, profanity and hurt feelings. Of course this is my subjective impression, which may be colored by my lack of a thick skin. But I DO want to say, that I greatly value the efforts of the volunteers who strive to be so helpful and demonstrate repeatedly great patience in the face of what clearly must, at times, be extremely frustrating. But please exercise precision in your communications with overly sensitive, frustrated or tentative newbies! -- Cheers! boB Stepp _______________________________________________ Tutor maillist - Tutor@python.org To unsubscribe or change subscription options: http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor