Joe Greco wrote: >> Sorry, I can't resist. >> >> How do I join the Mail List Nazi Corp? Do I have to be invited, or can I >> just self appoint myself? Asking neophyte questions are objected to by >> some, top posting by those who blast others, etc. >> >> How about leaving member chastisement to the sponsor of the list? > > That's unlikely to happen in most cases. > >> Some people have no one within 250 miles of where they are to learn from or >> learn better by working with code than reading inscrutable examples from >> different versions, and other inanimate pages of examples that have "wrong" >> variables, etc. > > Yes. > >> Nearly everyone can be criticized for something, Asking "dumb" questions, >> top posting, bottom posting and leaving 3 pages of "crap" to scroll through, >> answering questions that were answered 5 posts down, because they didn't >> review the newer messages before posting, and more. >> >> Be charitable and kind. Have a nice day. > > There's absolutely something to be said for that. On the other hand, > there is also something to be said for making people exhaust the > available resources prior to solving their problems for them. You > can even be charitable and kind while doing so... > > Back in the '90's, I knew a really bright guy who knew Windows and > Novell inside and out. He was just learning UNIXy stuff (FreeBSD in > particular) and he was discovering that there was a lot of application > for the stuff. He would frequently approach me, desperately seeking an > answer to some general problem of some sort. I would typically give > relatively vague answers, ending up essentially with a "figure it out > yourself." This frustrated him to no end, but he would do so. Later, > he would come to me, almost always with a workable solution, at which > point we would often discuss the ins and outs of several different > options. His solution wasn't always the *best*, but it would always > serve as a foundation for the rest. > > Years later, he thanked me. At the time, he didn't really appreciate > what I was doing and didn't see the bigger picture. Looking back on > it, I think he saw that I had always tried to aim him in a sensible > direction before shoving him off on his own to figure it out. He > eventually grew confident enough and capable enough that he would no > longer need to ask for help. > > I can fix your problems for you, or I can teach you to be self- > sufficient... which one is doing you more of a favor? It may seem > more "charitable and kind" to simply give someone answers, but I do > not think it actually is, at least in this sort of situation. > > As for the original poster? It's my impression, reading in between > the lines, that he probably hasn't tried that hard. Asterisk on Linux > is pretty straightforward, and MOH is probably not that rough to get > running. On FreeBSD? That's a different thing. Bleh. But it's still > better to do it on-list rather than selecting someone at random to go > and bother. > > I don't think anyone will prevent you from being "charitable and kind" > by providing answers to the guy's questions on the list though. > > ... JG
Slightly paraphrasing a very old and wise saying: Give a man a fish, he eats for a day. Teach him how to fish, he eats for a lifetime. -- JohnM _______________________________________________ -- Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com -- asterisk-users mailing list To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users