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Beggars can't be choosers, especially when asking support questions, and especially when they're not paying for it. For every person who asks a question expect

Beggars can't be choosers, especially when asking support questions, and especially when they're not paying for it. For every person who asks a question expecting (and deserving) a literal answer, there are dozens of ill-posed questions that require a clarifying preamble to get to any answer at all. It's better not to waste anybody's time. Support people tend to be able to distinguish between the two pretty well, too. If you ask a precise syntax question, you'll have a precise answer. Ask a vague "do my homework" question, and expect people will ask for clarifications.

version_five 5y ago
> beggars can't be choosers Nobody is forcing anyone to answer though. If someone has some "do this, don't do that" wisdom they want to share, they could write a blog post or something. I agree the dynamic of "help" in a discussion forum is always a bit weird, but I think if you're going to take the time to interact with someone who has asked a question, it's most constructive to start by answering (Sam goes for people who just criticize the tone of the question, or say RTFM or whatever. If it's off topic or low quality, it's probably better to just downvote the post).
- nullc 5y ago
  No one forces anyone to pay attention to an answer they don't like either. As far as "just answer"-- writing an answer takes work. You'd have to pay me a lot to mindlessly answer uninteresting queries that probably won't help you, like some meat based poor imitation of a search engine. It's not interesting, it's not fun, it doesn't foster building a community, it wouldn't help me expand my own knowledge. I'm of the view that when someone comes existing on a particular form of answer and not an interaction with a potential (future) peer, -- what they ought to be doing is hiring someone on Fiverr if its not an answer that they can extract from a search engine (or our benevolent AI overlords). Generally it's the person asking the question that wades into an environment with potential answers, they're the guest with the (minor) imposition of a question. I suppose my view is different with respect to rogue troubleshooters that swing in out of the blue with preachy answers to questions that were never asked. :P

version_five 5y ago

> beggars can't be choosers Nobody is forcing anyone to answer though. If someone has some "do this, don't do that" wisdom they want to share, they could write a blog post or something. I agree the dynamic of "help" in a discussion forum is always a bit weird, but I think if you're going to take the time to interact with someone who has asked a question, it's most constructive to start by answering (Sam goes for people who just criticize the tone of the question, or say RTFM or whatever. If it's off topic or low quality, it's probably better to just downvote the post).

nullc 5y ago
No one forces anyone to pay attention to an answer they don't like either. As far as "just answer"-- writing an answer takes work. You'd have to pay me a lot to mindlessly answer uninteresting queries that probably won't help you, like some meat based poor imitation of a search engine. It's not interesting, it's not fun, it doesn't foster building a community, it wouldn't help me expand my own knowledge. I'm of the view that when someone comes existing on a particular form of answer and not an interaction with a potential (future) peer, -- what they ought to be doing is hiring someone on Fiverr if its not an answer that they can extract from a search engine (or our benevolent AI overlords). Generally it's the person asking the question that wades into an environment with potential answers, they're the guest with the (minor) imposition of a question. I suppose my view is different with respect to rogue troubleshooters that swing in out of the blue with preachy answers to questions that were never asked. :P