Fwd: Re: [Wine]re:re:HELP

[John Wildberger]

Some comments to the subject of help.
-Anyone asking for help is obviously in need of help.
-If you know the answer, give it in  a clear way.
-If the cquestion was not clear, ask politely for clarification.
-Always assume the questionair is not as familiar with the subject as you are. 
-Don't get hung up by poor language. English is only the first language for a 
relatively small percentage of  the readers.
-if you don't know the answer refrain from vague suggestions.
-To quote the ' RTFM' (Read The Fine Manual ?) is annoying and in poor test.. 
-Don't use acronyms in your answer, without a first time usage explanation. 
-Be polite when giving help. Rudeness in any form does not help anyone.
-Don't feel like a martyr when giving your time. You don't have to.

Some comments on the subject of manuals:
Manuals are written by experts (most of the time), but unfortunately not by 
educators who learned to think at basic levels. As a consequence it is not 
surprising that too many people prefere to ask questions first on various 
forums to get answers to their problems  rather than spending time to read 
manuals. Asking a specific question is much more to the point than finding 
the right document (book, manual, or whatever).  After all, forums are 
designed for just this purpose. Also keep in mind that there are no so called 
'stupid' questions. There are only stupid answers occasionally.

On the subject of replies:
Replies that take on a note of "I am holier than thou" without giving any 
worthwhile information is very counter productive. This thread has seen some 
of this kind.

John