On Wednesday 26 January 2005 09:46, Greg Donald wrote: > For example a newbie might be needing some help > debugging an array and may not have ran into the print_r() manual page > yet.. Meanwhile the same newbie probably wouldn't be asking why their > shiny new constructor doesn't automatically call the parent class > constructor on instantiation.
No, *the* same newbie *might* not. New to php does not necessarily mean new to programming (and new to using resources on the web for that matter). Just because someone is new to php doesn't mean they haven't read the manual from cover to cover and understood 90% of it and aren't allowed to ask (what appears to you and me) non-newbie questions. Anyway isn't the whole point of this exercise an attempt to cut down on the number of FAQs on the list? So in your scenario suppose that every other post in the newbie list is from you pointing out how to use print_r() in debugging, wouldn't that get a tad tedious. Encouraging people to use existing resources is a better use of time than to repeat ad nauseum the same bit of thing. > It's not for us to decide what list a user would subscribe to. It > would be up to them to judge which list they think they should post to > based on their own experience to date with PHP. The last thing a 'newbie' needs is to ponder over which list(s) to subscribe to and which list(s) to post to. I would have thought that the difference between php-general and php-db is pretty clear cut but look at the amount of inappropriate postings to either list. Having a newbie list will just compound that problem. Unless of course you can come up with an unambiguous and clear cut definition of what should and should not go into the newbie list, otherwise it will just become another address for spammers to use. > > Most questions that people deem as 'newbie' are in fact FAQs. > > Granted.. but that doesn't mean we can never discuss things that are > already in print, just because they are already in print. Deleting > uninteresting posts is quite simple. Try telling the archives to delete 'uninteresting' posts. > > It is far better to tell them to RTFM, STFA, STFW etc > > If that's your modus operandi. If the manual or some other resource can answer the question better than I then why not? What I detest are the quoting of whole chunks from the manual, what purpose does it serve other than to waste space in the archives and people's mailboxes? > I'd rather help with an explanation > and a bit of my own personal experience when possible. As do I if the poster appears to have done some homework and just needs clarification or a kick^H^H^H^H nudge in the right direction. > > than to shove them off on > > a 'newbie' list and forget about them(!). > > Well, like I said.. I'd participate. I know you're misguided, but good luck :) -- Jason Wong -> Gremlins Associates -> www.gremlins.biz Open Source Software Systems Integrators * Web Design & Hosting * Internet & Intranet Applications Development * ------------------------------------------ Search the list archives before you post http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=php-general ------------------------------------------ New Year Resolution: Ignore top posted posts -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
