Re: nntp read: 14535k

[thesak]

On Jun 22, 11:51 am, m...@ixod.org (Mark T.B. Carroll) wrote:
> Gernot Hassenpflug <ger...@yahoo.com> writes:
> > 4. Search for Eric Raymond's article on how to ask smart questions.
>
> http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

How To Answer Questions in a Helpful Way

Be gentle. Problem-related stress can make people seem rude or stupid
even when they're not.

Reply to a first offender off-line. There is no need of public
humiliation for someone who may have made an honest mistake. A real
newbie may not know how to search archives or where the FAQ is stored
or posted.

If you don't know for sure, say so! A wrong but authoritative-sounding
answer is worse than none at all. Don't point anyone down a wrong path
simply because it's fun to sound like an expert. Be humble and honest;
set a good example for both the querent and your peers.

If you can't help, don't hinder. Don't make jokes about procedures
that could trash the user's setup - the poor sap might interpret these
as instructions.

Ask probing questions to elicit more details. If you're good at this,
the querent will learn something - and so might you. Try to turn the
bad question into a good one; remember we were all newbies once.

While just muttering RTFM is sometimes justified when replying to
someone who is just a lazy slob, a pointer to documentation (even if
it's just a suggestion to google for a key phrase) is better.

If you're going to answer the question at all, give good value. Don't
suggest kludgy workarounds when somebody is using the wrong tool or
approach. Suggest good tools. Reframe the question.

Help your community learn from the question. When you field a good
question, ask yourself "How would the relevant documentation or FAQ
have to change so that nobody has to answer this again?" Then send a
patch to the document maintainer.

If you did research to answer the question, demonstrate your skills
rather than writing as though you pulled the answer out of your butt.
Answering one good question is like feeding a hungry person one meal,
but teaching them research skills by example is teaching them to grow
food for a lifetime.