[conspire] I get mail

[Rick Moen]

I hope I wasn't too grumpy -- or long-winded.  It just gets to be a bit 
much.  (I mean, when I was a clueless newbie, I'd have been mortified 
at the notion of barging into some stranger's private mail without so
much as a "please" or "Is there a better place to ask?"  Wouldn't you?)

In better news, Saturday is CABAL day again.  I hope to finally get
around to re-doing my iBook G3 with the Ubuntu 5.10 preview, among other
things.  Join us if you can!

----- Forwarded message from "B.Sridhar Babu" <sridhar.bandalamudi at ecanarys.com> -----

From: "B.Sridhar Babu" <sridhar.bandalamudi at ecanarys.com>
To: rick at linuxmafia.com
Date: Fri, 23 Sep 2005 11:53:13 +0530
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.2180
Subject: Help

Please help me,

Iam Microsoft developer. 
can asp web application work on linux system?
what are the steps i have to fallow to run the asp application on linux system.


thanks & regards

B.Sridhar Babu [SE]
--------------------------------------------------------
Canarys Automations Pvt Ltd 
#135,7th Main,4th Block,Jayanagar
Bangalore-560011
+91 - 80 26539915 - 24
+91 - 94496 31468

----- End forwarded message -----
----- Forwarded message from Rick Moen <rick at linuxmafia.com> -----

Date: Fri, 23 Sep 2005 01:33:26 -0700
From: Rick Moen <rick at linuxmafia.com>
To: "B.Sridhar Babu" <sridhar.bandalamudi at ecanarys.com>
Subject: Re: Help

Quoting B.Sridhar Babu (sridhar.bandalamudi at ecanarys.com):

> Iam Microsoft developer.  can asp web application work on linux
> system?  what are the steps i have to fallow to run the asp
> application on linux system.

Sridhar, it's inefficient use of volunteer resources to ask these
questions of individual people in private e-mail.  You should ask on
public forums such as the comp.os.linux.development.apps or
comp.os.linux.misc Usenet newsgroups, or your nearby Linux user group's
public mailing lists.

In addition, you will find that the Linux community is most willing to
assist users who show some initiative, and who show signs of ability and
willingness to help themselves.  E.g., I'll bet you didn't bother to
enter this search string into Google:

   asp linux "web server"

Because, had you done so, you would not now be lazily asking a stranger
as a personal private favour to answer a question that you could and
should have easily answered by yourself.

If you want private tutoring -- which is what asking technical questions 
of strangers in private mail amounts to doing --  you should ask
politely and offer to pay professional consulting rates.

On the other hand, if you show signs of having at least _tried_ to find
answers from obvious sources of information before coming running for
help, if you ask your questions in _public_ so that others will benefit
from the question and the answers (not just yourself), and if you seem
likely to assist others in turn, you'll be a welcome newcomer to our
community.

I don't enjoy having to send replies like this one, but I get a
number of inquiries like yours every week.  They never show any concern
for furthering the community's state of collective knowledge (or concern
for the community at _all_, for that matter), never show any sign of 
having attempted to research the matter before asking, and never show
even _gratitude_ for my time, let alone a willingness to pay for it.

And you know the crowning irony?  About 95% of those e-mails are from
people who found my essay "How to Ask Questions the Smart Way" -- which
details all of the above, and asks readers to not do what you're
doing, _right at the top_.

----- End forwarded message -----