4 ms·

All the "works for me" answers like yours and the articles are just another example of what's wrong with SO. I was tempted to qualify this more, but honestly,

All the "works for me" answers like yours and the articles are just another example of what's wrong with SO. I was tempted to qualify this more, but honestly, if you can't see why "works for me" is one of the worst kinds of answers you can give in tech, then i doubt i can convince you.

bendbro 10y ago
Sorry, I fail to see that. Works for me works great for me ninety percent of the time.
- wpietri 10y ago
  When a person says, "I'm having a problem" and the response is, "Well I'm not having any problem, buh-bye!" it in effect says "I don't care that you have a problem." Often the real problem for novices is that they don't know enough to ask the right question; good questions require that you already be pretty close to the answer. So the real process of helping somebody with technology often begins by turning a bad question into a good question. So basically, I think "works for me" is disrespectful. Mostly I see it used defensively; the goal is to make the querent go away again. If somebody doesn't want to help, fine, I respect that. But in that case, they should not put themselves into a position where they are answering questions from novices.
  - initram 10y ago
    >When a person says, "I'm having a problem" and the response is, "Well I'm not having any problem, buh-bye!" it in effect says "I don't care that you have a problem." What a bizarre interpretation. When someone says, "It works for me," they're saying "I tried your example because I want to help, but was unable to reproduce your problem. Maybe there's some information you didn't provide that can explain the difference between what I'm seeing and what you're seeing? Please add more information so I can understand what's different and help you."
    - wpietri 10y ago
      That may be what you're thinking. But it's often not how it comes across, especially when it's the totality of the reply. If you want to say the rest of that, I'd suggest you actually try saying the rest of that.
- pjc50 10y ago
  Ninety percent of the time it works every time! (Jokes on HN fail about 90% of the time, which is a shame because yours is subtle and has been missed)
Jemmeh 10y ago
Of course there are "works for me" answers. There are so many different setups out there. Just between chrome and IE for example. "This works for me on most browsers, but I don't know what the answer is for IE" is perfectly valid.
recursive 10y ago
A common theme for new users I've noticed is questions regarding a code snippet. The question claims the code doesn't work - that it throws or produces an incorrect result. However, the code is completely correct. How else can you respond, other than saying "the code seems to be correct, and there's not enough to reproduce the problem here. can you provide more information?"
- Mithaldu 10y ago
  That is honestly a completely different kind of answer, that imo is perfectly fine. Although, it should come as a comment first, not an answer, but deserves promotion to answer if no further info is given. The difference between your phrasing, and a blunt "works for me" is that you actually bother to inquire further and don't desire to just shut things down so you can move on to the next question and make more points.

bendbro 10y ago

Sorry, I fail to see that. Works for me works great for me ninety percent of the time.

wpietri 10y ago
When a person says, "I'm having a problem" and the response is, "Well I'm not having any problem, buh-bye!" it in effect says "I don't care that you have a problem." Often the real problem for novices is that they don't know enough to ask the right question; good questions require that you already be pretty close to the answer. So the real process of helping somebody with technology often begins by turning a bad question into a good question. So basically, I think "works for me" is disrespectful. Mostly I see it used defensively; the goal is to make the querent go away again. If somebody doesn't want to help, fine, I respect that. But in that case, they should not put themselves into a position where they are answering questions from novices.
- initram 10y ago
  >When a person says, "I'm having a problem" and the response is, "Well I'm not having any problem, buh-bye!" it in effect says "I don't care that you have a problem." What a bizarre interpretation. When someone says, "It works for me," they're saying "I tried your example because I want to help, but was unable to reproduce your problem. Maybe there's some information you didn't provide that can explain the difference between what I'm seeing and what you're seeing? Please add more information so I can understand what's different and help you."
  - wpietri 10y ago
    That may be what you're thinking. But it's often not how it comes across, especially when it's the totality of the reply. If you want to say the rest of that, I'd suggest you actually try saying the rest of that.
pjc50 10y ago
Ninety percent of the time it works every time! (Jokes on HN fail about 90% of the time, which is a shame because yours is subtle and has been missed)

Jemmeh 10y ago

Of course there are "works for me" answers. There are so many different setups out there. Just between chrome and IE for example. "This works for me on most browsers, but I don't know what the answer is for IE" is perfectly valid.

recursive 10y ago

A common theme for new users I've noticed is questions regarding a code snippet. The question claims the code doesn't work - that it throws or produces an incorrect result. However, the code is completely correct. How else can you respond, other than saying "the code seems to be correct, and there's not enough to reproduce the problem here. can you provide more information?"

Mithaldu 10y ago
That is honestly a completely different kind of answer, that imo is perfectly fine. Although, it should come as a comment first, not an answer, but deserves promotion to answer if no further info is given. The difference between your phrasing, and a blunt "works for me" is that you actually bother to inquire further and don't desire to just shut things down so you can move on to the next question and make more points.