Topic: Forum use

[gbaird]

Hello

I have spent my time learning but did not ask anybody I could find to answer if I had a windows problem I contacted microsoft or spent the time to look at windows forums I feel this sme6 should not ask general questions as this is a sme forum after all ! This is simply in no regard to sme but network questions are meant to be answered in other forums

I have a 62 ford falcon I would not ask the questions here
I would contact ford or a auto forum unless anybody feels they should answer here

We are trying to keep sme alive HERE not nurse-maid people that don't know networking or anything about linux Contact redhat or suse or debian for those issues If anyone feels differently
they can setup a forum to answer the questions that DON'T pertain to sme

If you look at the reads verses the answers you will agree
I have answered several sme questions and feel it is a help to people using sme but I don't feel our time is well spent helping people with common computer questions

How do I read email or which os can we use to futher sme
what is this forum for!

I am not afraid to login with my comments and you see I try to be helpful when I can but again this forum is for sme NOT general or basic computer questions

I have been a very sucessful isp and you learn to deal with people as needed sme6 has asked several very basic questions even in the experienced forum why! It shows in the questions
I have answered some but only to find he did not want it to work that way but did not know how networking worked

I am not against helping people or newbe's but again THIS forum is for sme not a "how do I"

Anyone that feels I am wrong should start a howto forum theirself - some links below just buy the bandwith

http://www.mailgust.org/
http://www.phpbb.com/ thats what forum this runs on
or check out
http://www.hotscripts.com/PHP/Scripts_and_Programs/Mailing_List_Managers/index.html

Let us get back to where we are going with sme and not forget we will soon need a base system redhat, whitebox, fedora or something

Let us not forget this is a sme forum

Please review the questions sme6 has asked I feel that most of us are beyond this type of level or we would not even use sme

help is help but air up your tire

Gregory Baird

does sme6 ever log in

[duncan]

This should be interesting. I tend to agree.

[crazybob]

I also agree. I may post some rather strange questions from time to time, and some of them have gone unanswered. But I do make a strong effort to search the forums and RTFM prior to posting. I feel this forum is for SME, and how to apply other linux software software to it. Not how to use the other applications.

If I should post an inapproiate question, or to much of a newbie question. I would appreciate a short comment, and possible direction to head in to research.

Greg has helped me out a few times, and I have spoken to him more than once. I do appreciate his help. One of the things we have done is to converse via email to prevent cluttering up the forum with a subject that was not particularly SME relevent.

Bob Stalzer

[wyron]

I also agree.

OK, you agree

I may post some rather strange questions from time to time, and some of them have gone unanswered. But I do make a strong effort to search the forums and RTFM prior to posting. I feel this forum is for SME, and how to apply other linux software software to it. Not how to use the other applications.

Ah, so you don't agree

If I should post an inapproiate question, or to much of a newbie question. I would appreciate a short comment, and possible direction to head in to research.

And this is what it's all about !

Greg has helped me out a few times, and I have spoken to him more than once. I do appreciate his help. One of the things we have done is to converse via email to prevent cluttering up the forum with a subject that was not particularly SME relevent.

All right !
The main reason I chose e-smith (as it was back then) was that it was so easy to configure out of the box, as opposed to Trustix or others, but that doesn't mean that I wasn't insecure in my choices of configuration or updating, or how the system worked. Linux was a whole new world to me, and in many respects still is.
I had lots of help from Dan Brown and Darrell May (among others) back then, without ever experiencing a caustic remark.
I often see questions here that tells stories (like my own) of lack of experience and insight, and of misunderstandings of the whole concept (some of those are my own too).
But the least we can do is to point sandbox kiddies in the right direction. Perhaps gbaird doesn't realize it, but this is THE place people go to, when they first hear about SME.

gbaird - have a heart!
There is the world of difference between a 'tongue in cheek' answer and caustic/cynical dogbiting, and everybody must be allowed at least one mistake.
Don't start a flame war over this (using up even more forum space).
Instead simply ignore the questions you find inappropriate.
People less gifted with experience, knowledge, technical know-how and intelligence than you, but with more patience (and perhaps wisom) instead, will probably answer them for you.

[Lowell Fuher]

My late Father who was one of THE masters in his industry (locksmithing), (he was the teachers teacher), lived by the statement;
"It is not so much what you know that counts, it's knowing where to find the answers to your questions, and the willingness to ASK - and even sometimes to look dumb - , but having that "Bull Dog tonacity" to find your answer!"

Thats your greatest expression of your accumilative compassion to learn above and beyond the norm.  How many attempts did Thomas A. Edison make in searching out the working combination for the light bulb?  Wasn't it a couple hundred?  But his Bull Dog Tonacity helped him to "Go Where No Man Had Gone Before"!

(Looking stupid more times than not)

Moe  

((Moe - one translation in the Greek is to understand "More" than currently))

[RavenIV]

ok,
let me tell you my story, too.

i did not come to the world as a linux profi or a SME guru.
but most of my knowledge is selfmade.
i read many books, asked people the right questions, searched several forums or did 'try and error'.
but the important skill i have is the will to learn the things that i don't know.

many questions here in the forum are stupid and i read them as "please come to my place and do the job for me because i don't want to stress my brain".

first i answered to that questions with 'RTFM' or 'search the forum!' or 'first switch on your brain' and then i learned to ignore these posts.
now i sleep much better at night and do not get excited so quickly.


cheers klaus

[MSmith]

But isn't it more fun to have somewhere specific to point your flamethrower when you're in the mood?  And ... shouldn't this rant be in the "Suggestions" forum?

[bavel]

SME may be simple to set up - but I have noticed that when you bump into a problem, it's very difficult to find a proper solution. Basically, I feel, because SME is not Linux - it is an application built on Linux. And very poorly documented, for example: I see lots of (configuration?) files that say DO NOT MODIFY THIS FILE because the file is built from templates. This process, and how to use these templates, is not described in detail in any SME documentation...

[Cruzer]

First lets start with the concept..
DEFINITION: Internet forum
An Internet forum or message board is the modern descendant of the bulletin board systems and existing Usenet news systems that were widespread in the 1980s and 1990s. They typically exist as part of a Web site and invite users to start topics and discuss issues with one another, although forums can compose most, if not all, of the content of some sites.

This FORUM has produce amazing results in helping the LiNUX Community with the setup, installs, and configurations of SME. I agree on one thing, general linux questions not directed/associated with the USE of SME - SHOULD be directed elsewhere,(Like I can't install GIMP on Redhat7.0) however; MOST of what I have seen and contributed are involvement with SME, because SME has a different file structure and has a minimal set of RPM's installed - suited for it's own "SME" environment..

So.. If "Newbies" are asking questions (AFTER SEARCHING Forums)about linux and are using SME, that may seem silly to us Linux/Unix users, they are genuine and need our help. After-all, we had to ask at some point too..

We should NOT see any negative posts.. only Positive and informative!

[Cruzer]

I feel this sme6 should not ask general questions as this is a sme forum after all !

huh?

[Anonymous]

but the thing is:
if I come to a new software (and SME is just a software) and do not know much about it, then i try and error.
if i do not succeed, i try to find help.
this forum is the needed help.
then i read some post and after that i use the SEARCH-funktion and create some usefull questions.

what is bugging me it that many newbees ask the same questions without a try of the search.

cheers
klaus

[satovey]

Hello

I have spent my time learning but did not ask anybody I could find to answer if I had a windows problem I contacted microsoft or spent the time to look at windows forums I feel this sme6 should not ask general questions as this is a sme forum after all ! This is simply in no regard to sme but network questions are meant to be answered in other forums

I take it your gripe is directed at a specific user
by the name sme6.

We are trying to keep sme alive HERE not nurse-maid people that don't know networking or anything about linux Contact redhat or suse or debian for those issues If anyone feels differently
they can setup a forum to answer the questions that DON'T pertain to sme

I agree to a point. If a user is using SME then this is the place they should come for answers. Even if those answers are as you say to basic. It may be that the user is cutting his or her teeth on SME, they however should keep those quetions in the general users forum.

If you look at the reads verses the answers you will agree
I have answered several sme questions and feel it is a help to people using sme but I don't feel our time is well spent helping people with common computer questions

How do I read email or which os can we use to futher sme
what is this forum for!

I can see your point on this. If a person is able to surf the web, then these questions are simply someone posting or should I say spamming this forum.

I am not afraid to login with my comments and you see I try to be helpful when I can but again this forum is for sme NOT general or basic computer questions

I have been a very sucessful isp and you learn to deal with people as needed sme6 has asked several very basic questions even in the experienced forum why! It shows in the questions
I have answered some but only to find he did not want it to work that way but did not know how networking worked

I am not against helping people or newbe's but again THIS forum is for sme not a "how do I"

It looks to me that perhaps sme has been playing people on this forum. The admin should restrict any use of sme from beinging a user name.

Anyone that feels I am wrong should start a howto forum theirself - some links below just buy the bandwith

When I first read your post, I thought that you were being a bit criticle to the newbees. However, after rereading and responding to this post, I am more in agreement with your poinion. I specifically don't know how a person can surf the web if they don't have some basice computer skills. Either sme6 is blind or just lazy.

Let us get back to where we are going with sme and not forget we will soon need a base system redhat, whitebox, fedora or something

Let us not forget this is a sme forum

I thought that the choice of a base system was already decided, OK, who's not wanting to make the decide? How about contribs posting all the pros and cons of the different choices and leave it to a vote?

help is help but air up your tire

Gregory Baird

does sme6 ever log in

Perhaps the prob is that sme6 has too much air as it is.

[duncan]

It’s not so much that people ask questions - it’s that people ask the same questions over and over and over again.

As I browse through the two forums this morning - I can see probably 6 or 7 questions that have been answered recently. Two sitting side by side on the same subject (Dev- tools).

I dare any of you to justify this one (this is an example – I am not picking on anyone)

http://forums.contribs.org/index.php?topic=22117.0

The way that some people structure their questions - it’s pretty obvious that they haven’t performed even the simplest of searches.

Subjects that deal with Hubs, Switches and cable running are so off topic they don’t belong in any forum.

Regards Duncan

[wyron]

Duncan, the justification is contained within the thread you put up:
1. Insecure newbie, unsure of how to start tackling setup (and how to use forum).
 + 2. Structured answer from someone with patience enough to care.
 = 3. A happy newbie, ready to take the exploration of his new server software one step further, gaining confidence along the way.

Personally I find it more appropriate for you to justify your negative attitude towards threads like this one (And there I go again. I thought I'd lost interest in gbairds flaming campaign).

[Anonymous]

Or

1. Insecure newbie, who couldn’t be bothered looking
+ 2. Structured answer from someone with patience enough to care.
= 3. A happy newbie, who will immediately ask a question at the next hurdle.