Date: Tue, 19 Jan 1999 11:02:24 +1100 From: Sue Blake <sue@welearn.com.au> To: "Oben O. Candemir" <dunya@one.net.au> Cc: freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: FreeBSD IRC channels and ??quality?? Message-ID: <19990119110224.29085@welearn.com.au> In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSF.4.05.9901190941490.352-100000@fireball.2000.com.au>; from Oben O. Candemir on Tue, Jan 19, 1999 at 10:01:59AM %2B1100 References: <Pine.BSF.4.05.9901190941490.352-100000@fireball.2000.com.au>
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On Tue, Jan 19, 1999 at 10:01:59AM +1100, Oben O. Candemir wrote:
>
> I have been using SysV Unices for 5-6 years and last year installed Linux
> on my home machine. On the many occasions I required help; I got it from
> Linux gurus on thr IRC channels on the irc.linpeople.org
> servers and received excellent help. Along the way I helped many other
> newbies with my general Unix knowledge. The Linux channels have an ethos
> that says no question is dumb or lame. No one is kicked or banned from a
> channel because of the pervasive 'calm' and responsiveness the 'elders'
> provide to newbies. In fact I don't think the chanop paradigm is in
> operation.
>
> Now to the point...
>
> I installed FreeBSD after reading many favourable reviews of it and the
> time came to join an IRC channel for quick help...
There's mistake number one: you're applying Linux community values and
expectations the the FreeBSD community. In some ways they can be opposite.
In my personal experience, a lot of Linux users think IRC is fun, while a
lot more FreeBSD users would rather avoid IRC entirely. FreeBSD users are
expected to do the work themselves and only ask when really stuck, and then
ask on the mailing lists, while the Linux users who I know really get off
on having some green newbie around so that they can show off what they
(think they) know.
When I ran Linux I tried IRC and was given half a dozen conflicting answers
to a question, and none of them worked. When I have a FreeBSD question I would
never think of going to IRC, but ask on the mailing lists. I'm
sometimes answered by silence, but I know that when the answer finally comes
it will be a good one which has been checked by hundreds of other competent
people who follow freebsd-questions. Some good answers have arrived by email
within seconds.
Linux is a much better place for a naive newbie than FreeBSD and they see IRC
as a place to help people who would rather have human contact than read a book.
FreeBSD (community) is more tuned for developers, and IRC is a place for those
of them who like IRC make quick contact and socialise.
Some say we need a #FreeBSDHelp channel. Yeah, great idea, and it's been
tried. Where do you get the people who are capable of helping propoerly, and
how do you have them commit to being there round the clock? You see, whenever
you ask for FreeBSD help you're probably getting someone to do what they do
for a living for free. By contrast, many more Linux users would be flattered
to think that someone would actually ask them for help.
When in Rome don't expect to find tabouli, but the pizza's great.
--
Regards,
-*Sue*-
[Actually the pizza's much better in Spain but why spoil a good mixed
metaphor with the facts]
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