On Sat, Nov 14, 2009 at 11:46, Arturo Ovalle <dr_ovalle@yahoo.
> I have to comment something about a previous thread, where one member of this group
> was complaining that the "experts" in this forum only give complex answers that are not
> suitable for newbies (at least, that is what I understood about his complain). When I'm
> stuck in a problem in Python, and I post my problem in Python forums, they never give you
> an answer, they ask you what is the problem and why are you stuck on it, and they just
> point you in the right direction. When you finally post a right answer, they post many
> different ways to achieve the same result, but just once you already resolved it by yourself.
> I like that because that is an effective way to learn (and to teach). This group has a
> different profile, but I comment this, because many newbies can benefit from those ways to
> approach a problem. And we all can learn a lot.
That is a greate explanation/
trying to say for ages. THIS is NOT the only technical help forum
where that kind of attitude (that of "Try and we'll help you through
the problems, but we won't just give it to you") prevails... and I
agree with you, it makes it a learning experience and the lessons tend
to stick better. In fact, I can't think of ANY mailing list or group
I belong to where this is not the case, be it a programming language
group, a technical hardware forum, or Linux_NEWBIES to name just a few
that I follow/participate in, that do NOT do the same thing.
Most people who come to forums like this come to learn and to expand
their knowledge and to learn how to figure out things, analyze and
deduce and troubleshoot problems. There are a few, a vocal few, that
come to ANY technical group with a sense of entitlement and end up
demanding that they are owed X answers in a specific format without
actually having ever tried anything on their own. In other words,
they want to be spoon fed the knowledge without seeming to make any
attempt on their own to actually work through a given problem.
Cest la vie, I suppose, but those of us who have been on forums like
this for years, or even decades, are far more willing to help someone
who actually tries and then comes to say "I tried this, but it's not
working. I don't understand why, can you help?" because:
A: those people generally seem to understand that "we" do this for
free, on our own time
B: "We" actually do know what we're talking about... usually :-)
C: those people show actual interest in learning the ins and outs and
come across as more flexible and willing to take the time to learn how
something works and why it works.
I teach a college level Intro to Linux System Administration course
for students who are in various IT degree programs, and I make it a
point to NEVER give answers out. I require that my students find
their own answers, with me to help point them in the right direction.
Why, you ask? Because when they get THAT sort of help, they learn it
better, are more likely to remember the next time they see that issue,
and they also get a better sense of accomplishement having done
something pretty much on their own that they never felt they could
have before.
The best example I have of this was a lady I taught last time who
could barely even use a computer. I had to start with her almost from
the ground up; Here's the power button, here's where you choose the OS
(Boot loader), and so forth...
By the end of the semester, she was not as good with Linux as the kids
who grew up on computers, but she could install the OS on her own, add
users, format filesystems, configure various things like networking,
graphics, sound and even network file systems (NFS and SAMBA). She
even had a running basic Apache server and a small, simple website
that she did all on her own.
In the end, she told me, and told my boss (the department chair) that
she learned more from my class than she had learned from all her other
classes combined, and she left feeling like she COULD actually do this
danged computer stuff. Prior to that, she couldn't even install
Windows on a system :-)
If I had just stood over her shoulder and given her every answer she
would never have actually learned anything.
Anyway, I'm out of town, visiting friends and family, so I should let
the e-mail go a bit and see some friends and drink some beer ;-)
Cheers, Everyone...
Jeff
--
Mike Ditka - "If God had wanted man to play soccer, he wouldn't have
given us arms." -
http://www.brainyqu
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