FreeBSD-newbies group is a compromise community.

[Johnson David]

On Monday 22 March 2004 11:06 am, Kevin D. Kinsey, DaleCo, S.P. wrote:

> Finally, is this something we might agree on?
> Technical questions aren't permitted, but
> "your experiences" are....
>
> Newbie A:  "I'm having trouble with foomatic..."
>
> Newbie B:  "I had trouble with foomatic, but by
> changing the $bar variable in my $file, I was
> able to overcome this difficulty."

The problem is that setting the $bar variable in $file might be exact 
WRONG answer for the user in question. Newbies by their nature don't 
understand the fundamental concepts behind the answer, and will blindly 
perform the steps without question.

For some questions, the wrong answer can be very harmful. The wrong 
instructions for setting up XFree86 can physically destroy some older 
monitors. Less obvious harm can result by opening up security holes in 
the system.

As much as we want to be helpful to other people, newbies should never 
answer other newbie's technical questions. All technical answers should 
be coming from experts, and on a list where other experts can instantly 
jump in a correct any wrong answers.

However, it is very appropriate to point newbies to sources of correct 
information. The handbook, FAQ, man pages, additional documentation, 
freebsddiary, onlamp, etc., are all good sources of information that 
the newbie might not know about. If you know that the answer is 
addressed specifically in one part of the FAQ, for example, simply 
provide a link to that section.

David