On Sat, Nov 14, 2009 at 8:18 AM, Victor Subervi <victorsubervi at gmail.com> wrote: > Man, Scott, you've hit it on the head! Gotta be honest. My name isn't > "Victor Subervi". I've changed names on these lists so many times just to > escape all the *#*%)+_& people throw at me, and I'll be changing names again > after this post. What you all gonna do about it? Grow up! Treat people as > you would like to be treated. Bye! > Victor whateverMyNameIsLOL The reactions you are generating are essentially a living personification of ESR's 'How to ask smart questions' document. To quote from that guide: The first thing to understand is that hackers actually like hard problems and good, thought-provoking questions about them. If we didn't, we wouldn't be here. If you give us an interesting question to chew on we'll be grateful to you; good questions are a stimulus and a gift. Good questions help us develop our understanding, and often reveal problems we might not have noticed or thought about otherwise. Among hackers, “Good question!” is a strong and sincere compliment. Despite this, hackers have a reputation for meeting simple questions with what looks like hostility or arrogance. It sometimes looks like we're reflexively rude to newbies and the ignorant. But this isn't really true. What we are, unapologetically, is hostile to people who seem to be unwilling to think or to do their own homework before asking questions. People like that are time sinks — they take without giving back, and they waste time we could have spent on another question more interesting and another person more worthy of an answer </endquote> Essentially you have asked enough of the 'wrong' type of questions on this list to have the more terse amongst us label you as a time sink, taking simple answers from the list and supplying no real community benefit. THe fact that you talk about changing your name multiple times to avoid catching this kind of crap is evidence that you simply do not (or choose not to) get the culture. I and many others use our real names on this list, because at some levels of the business, reputation is worth far more than certification. While the above ESR quote may be considered arrogant, just as several members of this list may be called similar, it should not be taken as that. We're vocal and passionate about what we do, in all aspects. Answering a question which can be easily solved by 30 seconds with documentation is a waste of 30 seconds. Answering a question which requires me to learn about something, test a hypothesis, or think about the implications of different solutions is a gift, as ESR described. I'll leave one final ESR quote here which pretty much sums up my feelings on the matter more eloquently than I am able to muster: It's simply not efficient for us to try to help people who are not willing to help themselves. It's OK to be ignorant; it's not OK to play stupid. So, while it isn't necessary to already be technically competent to get attention from us, it is necessary to demonstrate the kind of attitude that leads to competence — alert, thoughtful, observant, willing to be an active partner in developing a solution. If you can't live with this sort of discrimination, we suggest you pay somebody for a commercial support contract instead of asking hackers to personally donate help to you. -- During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act. George Orwell