[NTLUG:Discuss] NTLUG veterans helping Linux newbies?

[Kendall Clark]

>>>>> "Steve" == Steve Baker <sjbaker1 at airmail.net> writes:

    Steve> MadHat wrote:
    >> "B. DEGRASSE" wrote: > > I agree with the original posting, it
    >> is difficult coming up to speed.  How > about a newbie email
    >> list where truely dumb questions can be asked.
    >> 
    >> And how would _you_ determine what a "dumb" question is?

    Steve> Well, that's certainly true.

    Steve> If we wanted a 'newbies' list (and I don't think we do) -
    Steve> it would work by having newbies post ALL their questions
    Steve> there - and the ones that don't get coherent answers could
    Steve> then be 'promoted' to some other list where dumb questions
    Steve> would not appear.

We're not going to do anything like that; you should hate this
solution as it's retarded. But no one is proposing it, so don't sweat
it.

    Steve> I *hate* that solution though - it reeks of 'elitism' and
    Steve> that doesn't feel right in the world of the Internet where
    Steve> *finally* we have some measure of equality.  It also makes
    Steve> for S-L-O-W responses to hard questions because you'd have
    Steve> to post to one list, wait for a lack of response - then
    Steve> post again to the 'elite' list.  Nah - not gonna work.

    Steve> People already ask 'dumb' questions on this list, nobody
    Steve> seems to mind when that happens - and most questions do
    Steve> seem to get answers.  But the very fact that we have this
    Steve> thread says that it's not working...  

Wrong. The reason we're having this thread is because we are
continuing to struggle with getting the mix between newbie and veteran
just right. This is a perpetual struggle and won't be solved ever. So
we periodically talk about finetuning our approach. It's not a sign
that anything is broken; on the contrary, it's a sign that things are
working right, that we are still trying to redefine NTLUG to be
helpful.

<Kendall/>