You see this a lot in IRC channels, but you also see a lot of people just helping everyone. The secret is that most of these people have a pretty basic level of

You see this a lot in IRC channels, but you also see a lot of people just helping everyone. The secret is that most of these people have a pretty basic level of knowledge themselves, and that's one of the reasons they're in those IRC channels. They do it so they can find out gotchas and solve small problems to become better at something. I've done problem solving for strangers on IRC, and I must say: it works, in that it seriously improves your own knowledge. And the thing is: this is one of the greatest things about open source ! You can actually easily get someone to help you with basic problems. You can just join one of these IRC channels and go from "mediocre C programmer" to "slightly-above-mediocre C programmer that knows 5000 gotchas most don't" in a month or two. You will get invitations to projects and you will find yourself far more motivated by helping out people than by, say, an online course. But yes, IRC requires a bit of a thick skin. And whilst there are plenty of women and even teenage girls there, you quickly learn that on a topical channel you should not tell anyone who you are.