Paul, Please refrain from top posting. It makes quoting your email in context very difficult when replying. It is also very difficult to follow which points your email responded to specifically.
> -----Original Message----- > From: Paul Theodoropoulos [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Wednesday, September 18, 2002 12:31 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: [vchkpw] qmail-inject Error > > > > This would all be fine and dandy - if your construct were > correct. I draw > your attention to the word "insist" before your bullet points > below. "Bullet points" is perhaps ironically apropos - > because the fact > is, nobody has a gun to your head. Nobody can compel someone else to > educate them/read documentation for them/etc via email to a > mailing list. > It's your choice to respond. > Yet people write email after email to technical mailing lists asking for just that type of handholding. There's a reason why people are constantly told to RTFM, it's because in so many cases it is dreadfully obvious that they haven't. > I understand where you are coming from with your rant, but I > also believe > we should err on the side of compassion and humanity when > dealing with > ignorance (ignorance in the specific form, 'lack of knowledge on the > subject at hand'.) Asking questions is the first step towards > learning. I disagree. It is incumbent upon the person asking for help on a free mailing list to actually show that they've gone to some length to find an answer on their own. Not making an effort before asking for help abuses both the time and bandwidth of those who do make an effort as well as those who offer support. To boot, there are a number of applications, especially internet connected, that if a person cannot show the slightest inclination to help themselves, they should not be running in the first place. > Yes, it is frustrating when the same questions get asked over > and over by > different people. I've lost count of the times on the > sqwebmail list that > someone has asked a short or long question about something, > and Mister Sam > replies simply "See INSTALL". > Possibly because if they had read the INSTALL before installing as they were supposed to do, the answer would have been obvious. Since you bring up the Sqwebmail list, of which I'm also a member, how many times have you seen in the last month alone people asking about the "Invalid User ID or Password" issue that relates to having vpopmail installed? It gets asked over and over because people refuse to do some research beforehand. Spoonfeeding people is not helping the situation. > In my early days learning UNIX systems administration (nine > years ago), I > posted to comp.unix.solaris a few times. My questions were not newbie > questions, but compared with what some of the seasoned > experts there knew, > the questions were trivial. However, I didn't get flamed for asking a > question that in relative terms to their expertise was a > newbie question. > For that I'm thankful. And i've reciprocated many, many times > with others, > by sharing my knowledge without judgement. True - if someone > comes to me > with the same question three separate times, I'll probably > become reticent. > Newbies are by definition ignorant. That's why they are newbies. It is possible to ask a newbie question that won't be universally flamed by the gurus. But in order to do that, one must show that they made some kind of effort to understand what's going on. > bottom line: answer or don't answer or redirect the questioner to the > appropriate place. But ultimately, it's all your choice. > Nobody is forcing > you or anyone else to reply to this person's question. > > See THE GOLDEN RULE. > > and that's _my_ rant for the day! ;^) > > > Paul Theodoropoulos > http://www.anastrophe.com > Help Cure Alzheimer's with your PC's spare time: > http://folding.stanford.edu Robert Kropiewnicki Network Administrator StructuredWeb Inc. Phone: 201-325-3146 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
