GNHLUG SLUG - Wiki - 8 May

[Paul Lussier]

"David Hardy" <belovedbold357 at gmail.com> writes:

> I've been on the list for a few years now and wouldn't dream of heckling Ben
> or anyone else here;  way in awe of you guys.

Awwww, shucks :)

> I've been running Linux since RH 6.1 but what I know can fit on the
> business end of a pencil compared to you all.

Well, not to spill a secret or anything, but everyone else on this
list started at the same point :) There are days when I feel like an
idiot[1] compared to those I work with[2].  Knowledge, like poverty, can
often be a matter of perspective.  In otherwords, you can make a
million dollars a year, but if you overspend, you're still broke, and
still feel like you don't make "enough".  It's the same with
knowledge.  The more you know, the more you realize you have to learn :)

Most of us accumulated our knowledge following a simple 7 step
program (you can try this at home kids:)

 1. We read.  
 2. We read a lot.  
 3. We read multiple mediums and multiple sources.
 4. We attempt to apply what we read to reality.
 5. We read some more.
 6. We correct for our mistakes
 7. Goto 1.

After several iterations of that, we usually break down and ask
someone for help, whether it's on this list or another.

Note that we do in fact ask for help, but that it's usually the *last*
thing we do[3].  If you've been on this list or any technical mailing
list for a while, you'll notice a pattern among the posters there.

  - The more experienced posters  (Group A)

     - pose questions about rather arcane or complex issues; things
       the average list member might not have any knowledge of, any
       need to know, or something just so far past the realm of what
       the "average" would think of, they'd never consider asking a
       question like that.

     - usually get a few responses of the form "have you tried this?",
       or "What if you went about it a slightly different way." With
       the occasional "Wow, that's a tough one? Why do you need
       that?!"

  - The younger/lesser experienced folks (Group B)

    - ask FAQs or rather simple questions.

    - get multitudes of answers, many duplicates or variations of the
      same theme.

    - are usually answered by the group above