Proper Forum Etiquette


 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Contact Us Post Here to Contact Site Administrators and Moderators Proper Forum Etiquette
# 1  
Old 09-04-2002
Proper Forum Etiquette

I'm a frequent visitor to these forums. I generally enjoy topics that are posted as well as the responses. I really pickup a lot of new things to learn.

However, there is one thing that does bother me here. (I dont mean to start a flame war, or any problems at all, just expressing some thoughts)

Whenever I post, even before I post, I always research the issue as much as I can. I feel I learn better if I can actually try and figure my question on my own. However, if I cannot find the answer it is at that time I will post.

When I post, I try to be very specific, detailed and respectful. I feel that should be the correct way to post. I always start off with what im attempting to do and what steps I have done to try and resolve it on my own. In essence, I am polite and respectful in my posts.

What bothers me are these types of posts:

"Hey, how do you do this....?

bye"

I read this posts and cant help but get irritated. Did the person even attempt to research the issue? What about asking politely, being courteous and respectful? You cant help but question new threads that contain one line and end in bye.

Now im not saying that everyone needs to give a story before the post, but how about something more then "how do I do this? thanks." Maybe a little background info. A hint that maybe they tried to find the answer before they posted?

It just seems that everyone wants a quick answer and resolution. They dont want to take the time to try and figure out the problem on their own. It seems that laziness runs rampart in some, while patience and determination are non-exsistent.

I do enjoy helping people with questions. However, when I see those brief, "Give the answer now" posts, I cant help but ignore them.

I'm not trying to start a problem or negative thread here. That is not my intention. I do think that this forum as some top notched individuals who are very helpful and informative. It just bugs me at times when I see these type of posts.

Well, just wanted to get that off my chest.Smilie Like I said earlier, its not my intention to start any problems, just voicing my opinion.

Hope everyone is having a great day.

Tarballed

Last edited by tarballed; 09-04-2002 at 04:05 PM..
# 2  
Old 09-04-2002
i couldnt agree more.
# 3  
Old 09-04-2002
First case: Some people find this site when they are in dire trouble and don't read the rules. They also forget that there are more then one OS out there. They are involved with their problem and just want it fixed.

Second case: They did read the rules but still forget that there is more than one OS out there. Made an assumtion that all of us know exactly what is going on with everything.

You aren't going to change a thing. You could probably start up a new name/login on here and only post to questions that fail to give detail with "What OS and version?" and become a Sustaining member in five months.
# 4  
Old 09-04-2002
You aren't going to change a thing

To be honest, I was never trying to change anything. I was just voicing my opinion.

All I was trying to say is that, it doesnt seem to me that most people take the time to read up on anything. Whether it be documentation for their system or forum rules. Smilie

They are involved with their problem and just want it fixed.

Seems to be a common occurance.

Second case: They did read the rules but still forget that there is more than one OS out there. Made an assumtion that all of us know exactly what is going on with everything.

Seems to happen all the time. Smilie

When I first started learning UNIX, you had to read the manual and any other documentation available. Heavin forbid you asked a simple question on a mailing list of some sort where the usually response was "RTFM!"

I always took the approach as very respectful and polite. Just my style and more of a courtesy to others to show im sincere and not just "looking for the answer right now!" sort a speak.

Like I said, I was not trying to change anything, nor start a problem here. I was just voicing a opinion.

Tarballed
# 5  
Old 09-04-2002
Oh, I agree with you ... just want to make sure you understood the reasons to help lower your frustration level. And I know about the RTFM...I tried to grab that name when I joined. Alas, it was grabbed by someone else already.

That's another one you will get here - "the man page was confusing". Yes, and that I believe that is another part of the problem - if it's too hard to read the documentation, ask someone to explain it. Sometimes going over the man pages again and again is the only way to 'get it'.
# 6  
Old 09-04-2002
Sometimes going over the man pages again and again is the only way to 'get it'

I could not agree with you more.

Maybe its because we are old schoolers on this and we know the system. Smilie We learned it the hard way.

I got a kick out of your name whats you told me the reasoning behind it. I bet we could exchange some good stories about responses we've received pertaining to "RTFM!" hehe Smilie

Glad to know im not alone. Smilie

Tarballed
# 7  
Old 09-05-2002
Quote:
Originally posted by RTM
You aren't going to change a thing. You could probably start up a new name/login on here and only post to questions that fail to give detail with "What OS and version?" and become a Sustaining member in five months.
And I've been doling out good information just to get to Sustaining Member level!?! Smilie

I understand that the one line type questions can get annoying but I would rather put up a good front instead of a true cynical self that looks at the messages and yells "L-user!" It is my hopes that I am able to help and that person becomes a productive member of the forum.

You know what burns my hide? I like to at least get a "Hey, it worked" response after a solution has been posted. Sometimes a response is never given and future thread readers won't know if the solution worked or not.

You know what really burns my hide but is totally idiotic? I really like to know where people are located that post messages. Sometimes I read a message and think, "I betcha that person is located in XXXX part of the world" only to have the Location field left out. Totally insignificant but it bugs me sometimes.

Okay, but to the normal wanna-be helpful Auswipe. Smilie
Login or Register to Ask a Question

Previous Thread | Next Thread

6 More Discussions You Might Find Interesting

1. What is on Your Mind?

Mobile: Advanced Forum Statistics to Forum Home Page

For mobile users, I have just added a "first beta" Advanced Forum Statistics to the home page on mobile using CSS overflow:auto; so you can swipe if you need to see more. Google Search Console mobile usability says this page is "mobile friendly" so perhaps this will be useful for some of our... (12 Replies)
Discussion started by: Neo
12 Replies

2. What is on Your Mind?

Forum Update: Disabled Home Page Forum Statistics for Guests (Not Registered)

Just a quick update; to speed up the forums, I have disabled the forum statistics on the home page for non registered users. No changes for registered users. (0 Replies)
Discussion started by: Neo
0 Replies

3. UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

Proper syntax

I'm new to Unix, and just had a quick question. I'm writing a bash script, and I was wondering what proper programming etiquette was for piping. How many pipes is too many pipes? OLDEST=$(find . -maxdepth 1 -type d -newermt 2012-07-01 ! -newermt 2012-07-30 | xargs ls -1td | tail -2) echo... (1 Reply)
Discussion started by: jrymer
1 Replies

4. Post Here to Contact Site Administrators and Moderators

Forum etiquette and contact information

I got the following message I tried to send the following reply:Please excuse me for not being more familiar with this forums conventions. I was not aware that I included a personal message. Please help me by: 1. So that I can avoid this problem in the future, please let me know what part of my... (2 Replies)
Discussion started by: lmjennings44094
2 Replies

5. UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

Proper use of prune...

My goal was to find any directories inside of any directory called "09_Client Original" not modified in the last 30 days. $ find /Volumes/Jobs_Volume/ -type d -name "09_Client Original" -exec find {} -mtime +30 -type d -maxdepth 1 \; The results of this find are passed along in a perl script... (1 Reply)
Discussion started by: guriboy
1 Replies

6. IP Networking

Proper routing

I have a series of new machines that are internet facing (have IP's that are accessible via the 'net) and it has internal facing interfaces. I need to be able to communicate back to the internal network to a specific server which processes monitoring and e-mail traffic. I've been told that I should... (3 Replies)
Discussion started by: BOFH
3 Replies
Login or Register to Ask a Question