RE: [hobbit] Sorry... I had to vent

["White, Bruce" <bewhite (at) fellowes.com>]

My $.02

I think Vernon speaks a great truth.   I would rate myself maybe a 5 on
knowledge of hobbit/xymon when placed on his scale.   I  try to answer
questions when I can and am happy when I can help.  However, in my shop,
I'm the expert.  I explain to people here from management to help desk
guys how this software works.   I get the kind of basic questions,
answered by reading what's behind the help menu option, all the time.

I have posted questions here which have resulted in responses like RTFM
or "Google is your friend."  This is after I have searched the available
documentation and this list's archives.  The vast majority of the time,
it is also after trying multiple adjustments to see if I can figure out
a solution. Alas, we are all human. Sometimes we miss things, or don't
understand the documentation as written.  I appreciate when someone
takes to the time to answer that question, despite it being documented.

I was born into an English speaking world and despite a couple years of
German in school, don't speak any other language.  I can't even imagine
trying to digest and understand some of the complexity of this software
using nothing but documentation in language I don't speak.  So I have a
great deal of sympathy for those faced with that prospect.

I confess that I have had bad reactions to some of the questions posted
here.   I understand the want to "slap down" those who wish to have
things "handed to them on a silver platter."  I have wanted to post "Hey
buddy, do the basic work before posting!"  However, this is not
productive nor civil.

Vernon is right.  Answer the questions you want.  Ignore those you
choose. And if a poster really bugs you, use an ignore rule to never see
that person's posts again.

Just yesterday someone asked me why Henrik just gave his code away.  Why
didn't he keep it to himself and charge people to use it.   That is what
the Bill Gates of the world would have done. I can't speak for Henrik,
but I'm glad he choose a different approach.  As a result, many minds
have made hobbit/xymon a better product. And if the price is reading a
few "lame" questions, then it is a small price to pay.

    .....Bruce









Â
ÂBruce White
ÂSenior Enterprise Systems Engineer | Phone: 630-671-5169 | Fax: 630-893-1648 |Âbewhite (at) fellowes.com | http://www.fellowes.com/
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-----Original Message-----
From: doctor (at) makelofine.org [mailto:doctor (at) makelofine.org]
Sent: Wednesday, March 24, 2010 3:38 AM
To: hobbit (at) hswn.dk
Subject: Re: [hobbit] Sorry... I had to vent

Hi all,

I agree with Jerald, but I'd like to moderate his speechs. On my side, I
sometime asked dummy questions, because I didn't know where to find the
answers.
Mailing list archive, Xymon UI help, man pages, FAQ & Tips on xymon
homepage... Many sources of informations.

And as Maik said, we all are not english natural speechers. On my side,
I don't have to much difficulties to understand, but it's not always
true.
So, I think 2 things can be done :
-Having a central information source, and several language in it.


In order to centralize informations I think a wiki should be a good
approach. We could paste all informations from UI help, manpages, and
FAQ & Tips, then actualise them.


I don't have much free time, but I can spend some hours to translate all
informations in french. I could be usefull to have german, and some
asian language (japanese, chinese...). As I don't know any word of
theses languages, I can't do it myself.

Regards,
Damien

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