[GRLUG] Distro's - GRLUG test comment, dead thread

[Alan]

On Saturday 13 May 2006 09:05 pm, Bill Creswell wrote:
> I liked those last two emails a lot: I pulled them into this.
> Would you mind if I repost these somewhere?
> If yes, how would you like it credited?
		Me too.


>
>
> So, helpful hints for newbies asking questions:
> 1. Ask. Ask nicely. We aren't looking for you to beg for help, but we are
> looking for
> appreciation for our help.
>
> 2. Try first. Tell us what you did to find the answer yourself when asking
> the
> question tells us that you want to learn and makes us more willing to
> help.
>
> 3. Accept that you may not get the "step 1, step 2, step 3..." answer
> that you are looking for. You may just get a little bit of information
> - and if you asked a good question, that little bit of information may
> just be the missing piece that lets you figure it out for yourself - and
> learn something in the process.
>
> 4. Accept the answer "you've bitten off more than you can chew".
> Remember that you are asking questions of people who are more
> knowledgeable and experienced than you (if they weren't, why are you
> asking them questions?). Remember that we became knowledgeable and
> experienced by doing simple tasks, learning and then doing more
> complicated tasks. Some of us went to college, some to the School of
> Hard Knocks. We didn't get our knowledge from the magic lamp. We
> earned it through many trials and failures.
>
> 5. Remember that techies can be bribed. An offer of a dinner to help do
> something when we have free time stands a good chance of being taken
> up. Money works too. I've bought computers from the Junk Store and
> built them up with Linux for people to have something to play with - but
> I've been paid for that.
>
> 6. Respect. Remember that we aren't your employees, we aren't your help
> desk, we aren't under any obligation to you. Treating us with respect
> keeps our attitudes nice, and makes us much more willing to answer
> newbie questions.
>
> Ron's Guide to Answering Newbie Technical Questions
>
> Making the assumption that they are at least attempting to follow "Ron's
> Guide to Asking Technical Questions for Newbies"...
>
> 1. If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.
> 2. If you can't answer the question, don't respond.
> 3. Don't respond RTFM unless you KNOW that the answer is REALLY is in
> the manual (and it would be helpful to quote the manual name and page).
> 4. Don't respond with "Google is your friend" unless you actually used
> Google and found the answer - again, the keywords you used would be
> helpful to the newbie if only to educate him in how to use Google.
> 5. If you do respond, be helpful.