Re: Schoolforge FAQ (was Re: [school-discuss] First Programming Language)

[Bill <selinuxathome@yahoo.com>]

On Saturday 09 March 2002 14:45, you wrote:

> These are the kind of discussions/trolls I'd almost want to setup Gnus
> to get rid of. However, I'm not sure a FAQ would be enough, unless we
> systematically ask people to RTFM/not reply, which may seem very rude.
>

An RTFM, accompanied by a good link to specific and current data, is actually 
(IMHO) the ideal response to any situation requiring great detail in the 
answer.

For instance, a couple fo days ago I took part in an exchange where a Linux 
user expressed fear at his first compilation (to get support for a sound card 
he had recently purchased). My response was pretty simple and quoted below.

> Best how-to I have ever encountered is at
> http://www.linuxlookup.com/html/main/guides.html It's a "cook-book" walk
> through. Pay strict attention and it WILL compile. The first time. While
> you are making your configuration selections, keep an eye out for your
> sound card. Most likely either it, or a close cousin, is listed.
>
> Bill

His response today, after having read through the material linked, to was a 
simple "Thank you!".

My answer, while it didn't duplicate the how-to in the email, was complete, 
useful and accurate. I could have sent it as an e-mail attachment, but I felt 
that I was already leading him to water: it was up to him to drink. 

We have a contract with those who ask us for help whose scope and nature is 
approximately as follows:

1) It is their responsibility to completely and accurately describe the exact 
nature of their inquiry. It is my observation, however biased, that those 
"demanding" answers earn every bit of the silence they are typically met 
with while those earnestly requesting assistance seldom lack for technically 
adept "good Samaritans".

1a) If the supplicant appears to have made a good faith effort to do this, 
but failed in some detail, we have the right to remain silent or to request 
additional information sufficient to resolve the problem. 

2) It is our responsibility to either answer their questions truthfully and 
with a reasonable level of technical accuracy or to not respond at all. It is 
enough if we add to their store of facts. Although we often choose to share 
the results of our own research, we are not obligated to perform research on 
their behalf. 

2a) We have fulfilled this responsibility when we have once provided an 
answer sufficient to resolve their problem as it was presented (GIGO) or have 
referred them to a more authoritative source. "Google for it" may sometimes 
be a full and adequate response to beginner-level questions such as (A)"What 
is TFTP?" or (B)"How fast can the internet go if I hook up two computers at 
once?"

<humor mode="maliciousprank">
Answers: A) a floral delivery service known as "The Flower Truck Perverts" B) 
slow if you are using a modem hooked to a telephone, faster if you plug the 
phone line into the wall outlet. Cut the end off the wire and strip about 1" 
of insulation off the ends, join the black and the green wires and the red 
and the yellow wires by twisting them together and insert each leg into one 
side of the outlet. This is known as "twisted pair" cabling and is very 
popular. </humor>

:-) 

This is rather a longish response to what might have been a trivial matter. I 
am in the midst of a rather involved response on another list regarding the 
"implied contracts" of user lists so I am pretty stoked on the topic right 
now. Please forgive me if I overshot the mark by a grievous margin. I meant 
no ill.

Bill