As one of the scary people posting here, I thought I'd add my reply after a large number of posts to provide my perspective on our little WAMUG community.
Others have pointed out that you are not alone when you feel your question going unanswered. As a long-time member of this community I can assure you that I answer more questions than get answered, thus adding to your perspective that not all questions get answered. Over the years I've varied in my contributions from giving freely, through pointing out unreasonable expectations from fellow community members, quiet benevolence, ignoring most posts and all the various levels in between. At the end of the day it comes down to the "care"-level. Some days I care more, others I care less. When community members expect support, and complain about the lack of support, my initial response is invariably: "Well, if you need support, then bloody pay for it." Some have responded to the lament about the level of professionalism and others have replied that they are unfamiliar with what ever the software was that sparked the original question. I think it comes down to this: This is a community of people who more-or-less have a common interest in the Macintosh in all its diversity. The community is made up from people who bought their computer yesterday, through to people who have used more computers than they care to remember. There are users, developers, amateur and professionals in this community. Each community member has the choice to give or to take. The bigger the community, the more takers and the less givers. At some stage, the givers will leave or ignore silly questions. The posting guidelines were written in an attempt at increasing the number of givers and showing the takers that they can benefit if they become givers. At the end of the day, I make a living from giving IT support. I need to pay my bills and eat. Some days I feel charitable towards people asking questions, and other days I feel like I'm surrounded by a horde of cheap-skates who could afford a Macintosh, but can't be bothered to pay for support. So, my advice to this community and those who lament the lack of reply, give more than you take, learn, communicate and enjoy this large group of fellow Macintosh users from around the globe. Some people don't have any family, shelter or food, so really, take a deep breath and remember that there are people at the end of every email message. As an aside, some of the professional members in this community have in fact discussed this whole concept face-to-face and have experimented in several ways with their level of contribution. Strangely enough, we can't seem to help ourselves and still feel the need to assist, even if the level of communication has degenerated into finger pointing. So, don't be afraid, we haven't run away just yet :-) Cheers, Onno Benschop Connected via Optus B3 at S34°33'15" - E150°21'57" (Moss Vale, NSW) -- ()/)/)() ..ASCII for Onno.. |>>? ..EBCDIC for Onno.. --- -. -. --- ..Morse for Onno.. Proudly supported by Skipper Trucks, Highway1, Concept AV, Sony Central, Dalcon ITmaze - ABN: 56 178 057 063 - ph: 04 1219 8888 - onno at itmaze dot com dot au
