Re: Regex expert needed
On 2005-05-04, Roberto C. Sanchez penned:
>
> Mr Mike wrote:
>>
>> You know... if I ask this sorta question all I get is RTFM and in
>> reality that's the correct answer... When I had regex questions I
>> bought a couple books and spent hours and hours reading and
>> experimenting till I figured out what I needed... My personal
>> thoughts here is, this guys' gettin a free pass... while I ask for
>> help on a legitimate topic like my apt CDROM method fuckin up and
>> nobody gives it a second look...
>>
>> GO FIGURE.. :-(
>>
> This is a free and open public forum. It could be that the people
> who provided information about PHP string parsing felt it was worth
> their time to answer. Maybe they also don't know the first thing
> about apt's CDROM method (I know I don't). He also goes to a lot of
> trouble of defining exactly what his problem is (not saying you
> didn't since I don't remember your post, but well formed questions
> with details are more likely to be answered).
>
> In short, you are not paying for support, so it's all freebies. If
> you don't get the answer you like, you are more than welcome to pay
> someone to find it for you. If you do get the answer you like, then
> that is fine too.
>
> -Roberto
What Roberto said. I saw both questions, recognized that I couldn't
quickly answer either of them, and moved on. Others may have felt
differently.
When I see a message, here are some inputs that help me decide if I'll
try to help:
Do I have any clue about the subject?
Would it take me a single command invocation, or maybe two, to get the
answer? (ie, can I answer quickly, even if I don't yet know the
answer?)
Does the subject interest me?
Was the question asked politely? (Negative points for whining about
how no one is answering; some people manage to ask a question multiple
times without sounding like whiners, though.)
Did the person attempt to troubleshoot the problem to the best of
their ability?
Has the question not been asked so frequently that my eyes bleed when
I see it again?
Do I have some time to spend working with the person to find the
answer?
Am I in a good mood?
...
Typically, when a question isn't answered, it's either because no one
who's reading the list can or because something about the message
rubbed people who could answer the wrong way. I don't remember the
apt CDROM question exactly, so I don't know if the latter applies.
--
monique
Ask smart questions, get good answers:
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
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