The frequent attitude of "Please guide me, I am helpless" is exactly what I personally feel is at fault with most of the 'bad attitude' responses people get here.
Really? I just thought the "bad attitude" was a result of poor manners. It's interesting that people feel they can justify attacking and treating other people rudely or poorly because of what the other person says or does.
Those who do nothing to help themselves and still ask where the door is, are the ones who cause the bad attitude responses.What a very poor excuse for a community that would make, if it were true. If a new member asks a question, they *are* trying to help themselves by asking the question, in the first place. But, read on, because I don't entirely disagree with you.
I feel that anyone asking a question on *any* mailing list should follow your guidelines and do some advance planning and research on their own.I've run a very active mailing list of 600+ members since 1996 and couldn't agree with this comment more. However, rude replies to those who don't follow the posted guidelines helps no one and creates a toxic community, over time. Simple, polite re-direction does help people and they appreciate it.
In defense of those whose attitudes seem bad to some, It is very tiring and frustrating to see the same question asked and answered repeatedly, sometimes several times a week. Compare this list to a school. Does the teacher answer every question? NO, they guide the student to finding the answer. This is what we should be doing, NOT providing *all* the answers for no effort from the one who asks.
On this point, I completely agree with you. A Librarian can either show a person where the book is or show the person how to find the book. I'll take the latter approach every time. But, on an active mailing list that process only occurs through strong moderation (note: strong moderation doesn't need to be vocal moderation). Your point is excellent, since each email from this list (the digest version, anyway, as that's the one I get), doesn't actually point people in the right direction.
So, I'm going to make a suggestion: at the top or bottom of each post, a link *directly* to the archives should appear with a comment similar to,
Please search the Archives before asking a question. http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-list/
I think you'd find both new members asking questions and members answering questions would welcome this. Is there a moderator around that might consider doing this?
Rory Toronto, Canada
