Friendliness towards "newbies"

[srg_13]

Funny, thinking about the stupid mistakes I made. About four or five years ago I would try to write operating systems in VB (I was 8...). About a year or two earlier, I tried to write them in basic. Then, before I found a tutorial, I wrote a (32 bit dos) C++ program, and then tried to make a dos disk and run it from there... That didn't work either. It was later that I found an OS tutorial, and then I altered it, and had an os that said "Welcome to Stephen's Operating System!" in green text... It was like that for half a year, until I found this board.

The rest is history (poetic )

-Stephen

[Crazed123]

I've definitely done some stupid stuff in my time. Last time it was forgetting that Pascal calling convention callee clears the stack, yesterday I missed that I was substituting mmap where I should have put mbt->mmap_addr.

Yeah, us n00bs need a place like this to be stupid without getting our heads flamed off because we can't understand all of OS programming from reading the Intel manuals.

[smiddy]

To whom it may concern...

You don't need to be friendly.

You *have* to be polite.

Respectful.

Not to treat the other one as if his thoughts and queries are *crap*.

Well, and a bit of friendliness always helps. It makes the other one confident in that he's welcome and that it isn't wrong to place a question.

Please bear this in mind ere you have a go at others for asking something you consider utterly crap or what so ever. Either give a helpful reply, a good pointer towards sources of knowledge or leave it alone.

Thanks.

PS: It's not as if I were the biggest and holiest angel here, but at lest I stay polite and refrain from insulting ppl.

Thanks for posting it. I have been coming here for over a year now. I can not recall someone ever chopping my head off, or anyone else, but I beleive the technical arogance should be left in the the toilet. The forum, IMHO, is for the sharing of knowledge, be it profound or just how to print 'Hello World' I love it here. There are, also IMHO, no stupid questions...anyone willing to put the hours into learning this craft we call our hobby is ok by me! I'll help where I can and keep my eye's open when other more inclined to help can so that I may, too, learn!

[Solar]

There are, also IMHO, no stupid questions...

Ah... well, to be blunt, there are stupid questions.

We repeatedly have threads in here from people who haven't made their basic homework (like, having at least superficially checked the sticky threads and the FAQ, and having at least some experience in programming in any language).

I admit I answer such posts terse, and sometimes a bit annoyed, but I answer them. If I'd kick the user until he goes away, he will have learned nothing, and will likely show up in some other place to annoy other people. Better show a man fishing...

[AxelDominatoR]

Better answering to a stupid question now than solving a stupid problem later, right?

Axel

[GLneo]

There are no stupid questions, just a LOT of inquisitive idiots

[Kemp]

There are stupid questions and very stupid answers, the latter are far worse.

[smiddy]

There are, also IMHO, no stupid questions...

Ah... well, to be blunt, there are stupid questions.

We repeatedly have threads in here from people who haven't made their basic homework (like, having at least superficially checked the sticky threads and the FAQ, and having at least some experience in programming in any language).

I admit I answer such posts terse, and sometimes a bit annoyed, but I answer them. If I'd kick the user until he goes away, he will have learned nothing, and will likely show up in some other place to annoy other people. Better show a man fishing...

Well, then, as one who hasn't read the sticky threads myself, what are the sticky threads? I am being a bit silly, as I have a tendancy to seek out answer first on my own until I get stuck and then I need a helping hand. But as for rules of engagement here, I think that there are a few people whom haven't used or know what sticky threads are and what they facilitate and would perhaps much rather interact with those on the forum. I mean, sure, it is nice to have one stop shopping, but you have to understand what is on the menu prior to ordering. There has to be a certain amount of tolerance given. An apreciation for one's perspective needs to be realized. A simple, "...well, as last I recall, what you're asking about is within the sticky threads. Give that a try as it may well be sufficient in answering your question." You have a choice to be terse or not. You allow those types of questions to annoy you and in so doing project an unwelcome attitude in retaliation to your annoyance, if that is what you do, as you say. I don't read all post, only those of interest to me. The one's I've seen I wouldn't consider your tone terse. But that is only my perspective. I also beleive that this is all a state of mind, which other wouldn't readily agree with me either. Opinions are like...well you know the addage.

[Kemp]

.:QuickLinkz:. <-- read this before you post !
Book Recommendations
How to Ask Questions (new and improved)

I think those stickies have titles that tell you pretty well what's in them. Obviously it's not an absolute requirement to read them, but questions have to be answered with the assumption that they have been read, otherwise there's no real point having them in the first place.

[smiddy]

.:QuickLinkz:. <-- read this before you post !
Book Recommendations
How to Ask Questions (new and improved)

I think those stickies have titles that tell you pretty well what's in them. Obviously it's not an absolute requirement to read them, but questions have to be answered with the assumption that they have been read, otherwise there's no real point having them in the first place.

Kemp, I couldn't agree more. Today after writing my post I felt it was my duty to read them...ok, not all of them, but a good scouring through them. I must admit though, it isn't as organized as I'd anticipated after seeing that people should read them first. I would imagine that they would get confused on a few of them. I do however like the Wiki (I did use it much, prior to reading the stickies). I tried using the sandbox today and may try my hand at putting a few things in there, that is if it is welcomed. I was unable to ascertain if the main page could be edited...no edit button, at least not for me. Maybe a moderator or someone else has access? <shrug> I'll have to continue looking around and become more familiar with it.

[Solar]

I agree that the stickies aren't as concise as they could be. Forum threads aren't a good medium for summarizing information. I keep thinking about getting all the stuff from the stickies organized into one "Intro" Wiki page, have one sticky point to that page, and remove the others.

But then I always find something that'd be more important, more fun, or less work.

As for the main page - yes, that one is locked. IIRC because of the many spam defacings we recieved in the past. AFAIK, df, myself, and probably some of the other moderators hold the admin password. I admit I haven't been looking at RecentChanges as often as I used to in recent weeks, but will check for necessary links to add. Just create the page (by using the SandBox as someone apparently already did with "FASM", or by linking from a related page), and we'll add the links.

[Kemp]

Ok you got me there, they probably would serve new people better if they were organised into the Wiki, would be a lot easier for people to change/add stuff as well (especially the book recommendations which has reached three pages with rather a lot of duplications).

[smiddy]

Well, for free and from the kindness of other's hearts, putting something together like this isn't quick and easy. Sorry if I seemed punchy, that is not my intention. I want to help. BTW, the FASM link...it was me. I wanted to put the FASM link under assemblers.

I certainly understand the time and effort surrounding such an endeavor. It is as they say, better than nothing.

It is too bad some people get off on ruining others works by defacing them.

[Solar]

Fortunately a Wiki is fully version-controlled, so nothing is lost by those defacements. They're just a nuisance.

(Sidenote: Please do log in with a WikiName before making edits. It makes it so much easier to get into contact with someone when an edit is in dispute.)

[smiddy]

That is my unfamiliarity with it... I had tried my forum login, but alas it didn't work. I will register, if I can find it. Thanks!