[Tutor] Limit Quoting please! [how to keep helpers happy?]

[Danny Yoo]

On Tue, 29 Oct 2002 dfinner@Kollsman.com wrote:

> Funny, in _every_ volunteer organization I've belonged to _ever_, those
> folks who give the most finally hit the wall.  The good ones work
> through the frustration.  The rest give up and go away (I have, belonged
> to both groups).


This has echoes of ESR's "How To Ask Questions The Smart Way":

    http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

Much of the advice ESR gives out about this is specifically tailored to
keep helpers from getting burnt out.  Humans can get tired and cranky;  I
think that's something that's at the heart of this thread.

So if we sound like grumpy old men, chalk it up to a bad hair day or
something like that.



> An advantage with an automatic reply from a piece of software is that
> it's hard to take it personal. :)

But the disadvantage is that the receiver of the reply knows (or thinks)
that the sender didn't take the effort to actually read the question.
I'd feel a bit depressed myself if all I got out of a question was a RTFM.


But I think we're all here on Tutor so that we don't get automatic
replies!  If we wanted automated replies, we could effectively use Google.
Personally, I know that I'm here for the human contact: the 'Python' part
of this is only a peripheral goal.

We've been going at this thread from the point of view of the tutors.
But just as all the helpers here are human, I think we should also
sympathize with the people who tread warily in unfamiliar territory.



Best of wishes!