Re: Observation

[shaun <shaun_(_at_)_sourcery_(_dot_)_ca>]

> I'll put it to you directly Theo.  My suggestion is if you don't
> want to see their ignorance here then create a new group for these
> "type of people" where they can post their questions and have them
> answered by willing mentors as opposed to being treated like they
> are stupid because of their ignorance.  There is a difference you
> know.  Between ignorance and stupidity.  The former is curable
> through teaching.  Not through sarcastic answers that provide no
> insight and only serve to inflate the perpetrators probably already
> large mental ego while simultaneously pushing a wedge between the
> knowledgable and the unlearned.

Well said Chris. I pay directly for my bandwidth. Bottom line is I get
alot more flames in my inbox than redundant questions. At least the
redundant questions show a willingness towards improvement in some
capacity. If most people are anything like me, mistakes in this regard
are more likely a result of simple oversight due to a tight schedule,
than conscious laziness or ignorance of the FAQ or archived content.

That's not to mention that while the manuals are searchable to some
extent, the FAQ isn't to my knowledge. I don't know if any of you
lofty minded folks have sat down and attempted to read it front to
back lately. Particularly from the perspective of someone who is
relatively new to open source and/or not a programmer. Depending on
the specific question, it's not always the most intuitive or efficient
way of finding the right answers. That's particularly true for front
line tech staff (the same people most commonly using and promoting
your software day to day out in the real world) who often lack the
leasure time to be faultlessly thorough before asking for a quick
suggestion or pointer.

-Shaun

PS. The new list sounds like a splendid idea. Where do I sign up? I
know at least a handful of others who would be happy to have a more
flame retardant knowledge pool available as needed. Depending on the
topic, any one of us may even be able to contribute to a modest degree
on occasion.