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They probably tried to make a common point: do not give the solution. For a given specific issue, the most you should give is pointers. For the function that s
by FatalBaboon 13y ago
They probably tried to make a common point: do not give the solution. For a given specific issue, the most you should give is pointers.
For the function that solves your problem saves the day but knowing how to find any when needed solves a lifetime of problems. Pointers help to put you on the right track so you're not discouraged.
- etfb 13y agoI was asking all the right questions -- is this possible, what hooks should I consider, what should I take into account to make sure that the stuff I add doesn't stamp all over other stuff. I'm a programmer with thirty years experience and twenty years with Emacs; I know this stuff. Basically, they shut me down. The thing I was asking was contrary to the whole philosophy of Emacs. I had, they assured me, no right to ask it. I was an idiot for having the problem that I was seeking to solve. And nobody, they told me, had ever had the problem ever in all of history. Were they right? Well, no, not even slightly. They were horribly, evilly wrong. But even if they had been right, their response was wrong. Their argument was "if you have this problem that can be fixed by a change to Emacs, change yourself". This, in the most extensible editor on the planet. It was like being told that my car's tendency to pull sharply to the left when passing another car was normal and expected and I should take care not to pass other cars.
- justincormack 13y agoUnfortunately there are a lot of communities like that, particularly the older ones.
- jordigh 13y agoI'm an #emacs regular. Were you the one asking about the mouse in Emacs?
- scotty79 13y agoThat's the kind of answer that I hate the most. It's basically "you can't and more importantly you shouldn't want that" If you don't know what kind is that just ask how to make PostgreSQL COUNTs as fast as MySQL ones. Conversly I love people who when someone asks them how to shoot himself in the head with a rifle carefully caution what a bullet does to a head but only after explaining how one could actually perform this trick.
- jjaredsimpson 13y agoYou used Emacs for 20 years and one bad interaction on IRC which caused you throw away all that acquired knowledge, let alone elisp you wrote?
- etfb 13y agoThe camel was rather overloaded with straw by that stage. I had asked the question two or three times over a long period, and received approximately the same response each time. I didn't just develop my contempt for the community all in one go. I had to WORK at it!
- ScottBurson 13y agoWhat was it you wanted to do? I'm not an Emacs internals expert, but you've got me curious :-)
- etfb 13y agoA cynic's TL;DR: Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, he'll eat for a lifetime. And if you really hate the man, get RMS to design him a fishing rod.
- to3m 13y agoI don't know. For a given specific issue, I've actually found the solution pretty helpful! And pointers can be given at the same time; there's no reason why an answer can't include both, as is most usually practical. It's fun to play the role of delphic oracle, but only as a joke that all concerned are in on, as it's terribly frustrating to be on the receiving end of it.