[geeks] Common IP lease?

[David Cantrell]

On Wed, Apr 03, 2002 at 08:30:08AM -0600, Amy wrote:

> this is an observation. from what i've seen and experienced, mind. outside
> of a very few people (i can name them, they're that few) the various bsd
> and linux communities have fallen to the whole open-souce home-depot
> do-it-yourself egotistical plague. if you dont have x amount of knowledge
> or clout, they don't and will not help.

IME those groups don't require a certain level of knowledge, but a certain
level of motivation.  That is, we don't care how ignorant someone is
provided they at least make an effort to help themselves *and* they pay
attention when they are helped.  Asking a question without at least
attempting to find the answer yourself is bad and wrong.  Asking the same
question twice would merit a mild ticking off, asking the same question
thrice is ignorance with malice aforethought, and it shouldn't be
surprising that those people get short shrift.

This seems reasonable.  After all, I don't get paid to help people with
their Linux problems or their perl problems, so it is entirely reasonable
for me to only help those who show an eagerness to learn and who don't
just deliberately annoy me by thinking I'll do everything for them.

> my guess is that it's because most of these folks use those os's as a user
> o/s, not a server one (i.e. in an employed situation). they dont ever
> bother working with others. hell, many of them don't work yet. likely, the
> worst ones wont be able to get jobs given that sort of attitude.

Good.  If someone is paying me enough, I'll put up with all sorts of crap
(and rant about it here :-)  Of course, I'll still encourage them to help
themselves, as that is the best use of resources.  And I have been known
to suggest to someone's boss that the constant asking of the same question
is a waste of my time and his money, but ultimately, if he wants to spend
his money that way that's just fine by me, and if it gets too irritating
for me to bear - well, my skills are in demand and I can go and find a job
that sucks somewhere else.

> as far as they're concerned, they didn't get any help in the beginning so
> why should anyone lower on the clue-tree who comes looking for answers
> expect more?

People may say that in jest*, but I don't find that attitude being expressed
at least in the more professional groups.  Sure, skr1pt kiddiez hanging
out in #linuxwarez may be like that, but if I want help with - say - a
Solaris problem, I'll google around a bit and if I can't find an answer,
I'll find an authoritative-looking forum such as sunmanagers to ask.  There,
I expect that I will be treated with courtesy and respect, provided I don't
try to take advantage of the good people who participate there for no
immediate reward.

* - like the jokey excuse given for unmaintainable code - it was hard to
write, it should be hard to read.

-- 
David Cantrell | david at cantrell.org.uk | http://www.cantrell.org.uk/david

       23.5 degrees of axial tilt is the reason for the season