Here's my experience: when I'm learning a new language or software, eg.,
php or css or recently GRAV CMS, and I have a problem, my first action
is google: <lang> <keywords> . I'm sure everyone does something like this.
Whenever I see a response that includes Stackoverflow, I look there
first because for over a year now I have found that the answers given
there provide me either a complete solution that I can cut and paste, or
enough clues to work out what I need.
Some new software, such as GRAV, do not produce Stackoverflow responses,
so I have to go to the forum and dig through stuff. But at least it is
indexed.
With Perl6, the first place I go is the documentation, which has always
been good and is getting better.
However, there are some practical questions that have been answered in
this list with really very good explanations, not just about the
problem, but also why. For a language, the 'why' can often be more
important.
Stackoverflow is - I think - a great resource (I grant there are the
normal human problems, but what human system is perfect?) because it
provides answers.
I can therefore see why there is a drive by some to get Perl6 Q&A on
Stackoverflow.
However, the portal to Stackoverflow is (for me) Google. And Google
indexes much much more than Stackoverflow.
Some of the Q&A asked on this list are not indexed in a way that would
bring them to the notice of someone looking for a similar question.
So the real question for me is not 'where to ask questions so that
people can see them?', but 'how to make Perl6 questions indexable?'.
Richard
aka finanalyst
On 13/06/18 05:44, Brad Gilbert wrote:
On Tue, Jun 12, 2018 at 3:57 PM, Brandon Allbery <allber...@gmail.com> wrote:
I replied to this one in private, but I want to make a point in public as
well.
On Tue, Jun 12, 2018 at 4:24 PM Brad Gilbert <b2gi...@gmail.com> wrote:
The barrier is not with Stack Overflow. (←What I obviously meant)
The barrier is within you.
There's an insidious assumption hidden in here: that "the barrier is within
you" means it's a modifiable barrier. Or, for that matter, it should be.
For some of us, it's not. I was not overstating earlier when I made a
reference to the Nobel Prize.
And there are also those for whom it's not as modifiable as this attitude
assumes, or for whom modifying it is not the best of ideas.
Think about this one a bit next time you want to tell someone it's "all in
their head". Because it might just be literally true.
I absolutely knew it was literally true.
I then proceeded to point out the same in my own life.
I did not intend to imply that it was easy to deal with.
(Note for others reading this there have been messages off list about this)
