Chris Faylor wrote: > [I see the same problem posted on stackoverflow. I'll never understand why > people don't just go to the place where they downloaded the software for help > first]
(I only just spotted this thread from cgf's linking to it; I suspect I missed the original due to being AFK for Christmas.) I suspect the reason is threefold: 1. The required effort from hitting a problem to asking for help is lower on SO than on the Cygwin mailing lists, particularly if you already have a SO account set up. 2. SO is set up to be tolerant of lazy questions -- what would earn me being ignored or referred to the list archives here gets a complete answer on SO, because the complete answer earns more points. Compare the Cygwin lists page, which states "This may seem like we're discouraging questions. Well, you are right..." 3. SO makes a point of being friendly and civil, and works to maintain that; see, for example, the "Summer of Love".[0] The Cygwin lists tend much more to the traditional hacker "cut-through-the-bullshit communications style that is natural to people who are more concerned about solving problems than making others feel warm and fuzzy."[1] [0]: http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2012/07/kicking-off-the-summer-of-love/ [1]: http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html#keepcool I don't think either is "wrong" or "bad", and I'm not advocating any change. I just think that they're each appropriate for what they're trying to do, and as such we're going to continue to see questions in both places. -- Adam Dinwoodie Messages posted to this list are made in a personal capacity. -- Problem reports: http://cygwin.com/problems.html FAQ: http://cygwin.com/faq/ Documentation: http://cygwin.com/docs.html Unsubscribe info: http://cygwin.com/ml/#unsubscribe-simple
