Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2004 11:41:03 -0800 From: Johnson David <DavidJohnson@Siemens.com> To: "Kevin D. Kinsey, DaleCo, S.P." <kdk@daleco.biz> Cc: freebsd-newbies@freebsd.org Subject: Re: FreeBSD-newbies group is a compromise community. Message-ID: <200403221141.03223.DavidJohnson@Siemens.com> In-Reply-To: <405F394D.8090703@daleco.biz> References: <1079648282.405a201a64217@savaka.com> <200403221040.12046.DavidJohnson@Siemens.com> <405F394D.8090703@daleco.biz>
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On Monday 22 March 2004 11:06 am, Kevin D. Kinsey, DaleCo, S.P. wrote: > Finally, is this something we might agree on? > Technical questions aren't permitted, but > "your experiences" are.... > > Newbie A: "I'm having trouble with foomatic..." > > Newbie B: "I had trouble with foomatic, but by > changing the $bar variable in my $file, I was > able to overcome this difficulty." The problem is that setting the $bar variable in $file might be exact WRONG answer for the user in question. Newbies by their nature don't understand the fundamental concepts behind the answer, and will blindly perform the steps without question. For some questions, the wrong answer can be very harmful. The wrong instructions for setting up XFree86 can physically destroy some older monitors. Less obvious harm can result by opening up security holes in the system. As much as we want to be helpful to other people, newbies should never answer other newbie's technical questions. All technical answers should be coming from experts, and on a list where other experts can instantly jump in a correct any wrong answers. However, it is very appropriate to point newbies to sources of correct information. The handbook, FAQ, man pages, additional documentation, freebsddiary, onlamp, etc., are all good sources of information that the newbie might not know about. If you know that the answer is addressed specifically in one part of the FAQ, for example, simply provide a link to that section. David
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