From: mschulter AT DOT value DOT net (M. Schulter) Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.djgpp Subject: Re: The DJGPP Oracle Date: 13 Aug 1997 23:38:34 GMT Organization: Value Net Internetwork Services Inc. Lines: 63 Message-ID: <5stghq$i43$1@vnetnews.value.net> References: <19970813200900 DOT QAA21426 AT ladder02 DOT news DOT aol DOT com> NNTP-Posting-Host: value.net To: djgpp AT delorie DOT com DJ-Gateway: from newsgroup comp.os.msdos.djgpp Precedence: bulk Hi, there. After following this thread, I'd like just to add a few remarks which may address the concerns of both those who frequently find themselves answering questions on this newsgroup, and those who ask them. First of all, I would like to emphasize the important point that DJGPP packages are not necessarily the "easiest" software around. The purpose of DJGPP, it seems to me, is to bring many features of UNIX to a DOS environment. As the joke goes, UNIX is often considered rather daunting for beginners, although "expert-friendly." Thus anyone who decides to take up a DJGPP package, it seems to me, should expect a challenging experience. It can also be a fun experience, but it calls for lots of patience and trial and error -- as well as reading the documents as well as one can at a given point in time. A great deal of the current software culture focuses on the idea that documentation should be "unnecessary," and that any good program should explain itself in ten minutes. Yes, I've heard these views from influential people in the industry, and they've probably influenced lots of Internet users. Unfortunately, DJGPP calls for a somewhat different philosophy . Really, I would say that the kind of sharing that goes on in this newsgroup should be based on two important assumptions: (1) People asking questions are trying their best to learn; (2) People answering questions may do so efficiently. Assumption 1 suggests that even someone asking a notorious FAQ should be treated with courtesy -- although they are actually going outside of the Usenet charter, however unintentionally. Assumption 2 suggests that a quick and friendly pointer to the FAQ _is_ a courteous response, as well as an efficient response. Any programmer who has used a for loop, say, instead of writing out the same procedure ten times (or more) will understand how saying "Please see the FAQ, Section x.x" is efficient. In fact, people more knowledgeable about C than I am might say that this kind of assistance is one of the most characteristic features of C -- a pointer . Of course, reading the docs is only the starting point. People can miss details, misunderstand things, or fail to realize that a problem they perceive in one way is really synonymous with an issue covered in the FAQ or other DJGPP documentation under a different name. The solution is a dialogue with our two assumptions being observed at each point. Like others, I have been much impressed with the way that those who frequently answer questions here do manage give the key information concisely, even when responding to rather obviously FAQ-type questions. If I'm trying to solve a problem, then a pointer to the best documentation is indeed "neighbors helping neighbors." Most respectfully, Margo Schulter mschulter AT value DOT net (To reply, please remove the . from my default address)