[Media] 8.04 Servers - Wikipedia

[Steve Lamb]

Bo Grimes wrote:
> What it is that to the RTFMers?  We are all idiots about something to 
> someone.

    What is it with this fallacy?  Look, I've been in D-U well over 10 years
and know what, someone giving a pat answer of RTFM has never been handed out.
 If it has it has been so rare that I've missed it.  To hear people on U-U
speak you'd think that dozens of people there had it on a macro.

    Look, have those letters been handed down?  Yes.  But have they either
come with an explanation on what and where to read?  Yes.  If not were they
handed down to someone who clearly hasn't taken even that step?  Yes.  Almost
always it has been said tongue-in-cheek.

    You say you're a teacher.  Fine.  You have a student and your class has a
textbook.  Your student has a question you know is answered in the book if he
had just read it yet he asks you without cracking the book, "How do I get
this?"  Do you honestly give him the answer or do you give him hints to put
his nose in the book and read?  I'm hoping the latter because that is what
every good teacher did when I was still in school.

    Now, your student has read the fine man...er...book and doesn't understand
what is contained therein.  You can tell because he phrases his question
differently; normally something like, "Well, it says that to get this I have
to do that... but I don't understand how doing that will get me this".  Has he
read the book?  Yup.  Has he tried to noodle it out?  Yes.  At that time you
could either try to give him a hint or two or give him the answer depending on
how close he is.  But the point is he may have gotten it all on his own just
by applying nose to book.

    That is D-U.  The answers are there but like any good teacher most on the
list will expect you to do two things.  1: Do some research on your own and
just try to noodle it out.  2: Signal that you've done some research and
noodling by framing the question with what you've done and exactly where
you're stuck.

    IE, no different than the examples provided in your message.

-- 
         Steve C. Lamb         | But who can decide what they dream
       PGP Key: 1FC01004       |      and dream I do
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