> To Herzen this "If you use OpenSolaris, you should > know how to build applications from source." is a > presumptuous assumption. > > Just because people use and Operating > System/Environment does not mean they have vast > technical expertise. Some people are just hobbyists > that like to try out or use different things. This is > why I really am tired of the high roller attitudes > that come with "geek playgrounds" I use the term geek > because I classify myself as one also so I take your > attitude as a black mark against who I am and how > people should be treated. > > This whole forum needs to release its elitist > attitude when it comes to replying to and giving > guidance to others that need help or just want > questions answered. > > I believe it has to come from the "Top" down so the > moderators, engineers, and the community folks have > to work on applying a little personality adjustment > for the sake of group. > > I know there are many other people thinking the same > thing, but I will state the obvious for them.
Self-help is _never_ elitist. We may reach a certain point where the only growth left will involve outreach to those who can presently do very little for themselves, and are only interested as users or advocates, and not as more active participants. But I don't think we're there yet. I'm not blaming anyone for not _already_ knowing how to build mlayer (for example) for themselves. But I don't see why, if someone were to make sure that it could be done and tell them in detail how to do it, most people couldn't accomplish that if they desired the result sufficiently to make the effort. And while it might challenge some people's confidence, I think more than a few could manage it even without someone doing all the prep work for them. (Nor does it have to be all that hard. Where much of the work has already been done, building from source needn't be more difficult than just installing something, once one has the initial prerequisites in place. But it would be a heck of a lot _slower_, and with some slight additional risk of disappointment along the way.) Again, it's a question of how much they want it. Are we ready for hordes of people that lack the will to be more than users? Are you volunteering to run a free 24/7 help desk? Should it be expected even that all of us together should try to run one? Sorry, but like most, I would _very_ rarely do that for free unless the questions are interesting. Maybe enough different people will find different questions interesting. Maybe there are some out there that really like helping people, any people. A worthy calling; just not mine. So even if someone responds with an answer that may not suit the person that asked, someone else can always fill in whatever the first answer was lacking. Is failing to help everyone on their own terms (or at the least common denominator) elitist? Or is it just as elitist to expect everyone to fit that model of behavior, when we're all different? Sorry, but what you seem to expect feels a lot to me like teachers that won't allow keeping score in games because they don't want anybody to lose. Not everything is equally easy for everyone. Live is _not_ fair, and if we spend all our time trying to force it to be fair, we'll be stuffing people into ill-fitting little containers rather than doing something more useful. Community is different people with different talents and interests coming together to meet at the point where their interests intersect. -- This message posted from opensolaris.org _______________________________________________ opensolaris-discuss mailing list opensolaris-discuss@opensolaris.org
