[plug] newbie list, show of hands

[Leon Brooks]

The Thought Assassin wrote:

>> 1. Its not an effort to split the list but rather a way for the true new
>> people to get into linux without being scared of sounding like an idiot.

> I don't think there is any reason to be scared of sounding like an idiot
> on PLUG, unless you are an idiot, and if you were an idiot, you probably
> wouldn't realise you sounded like an idiot, anyway.

Hear, hear! (-:

>> 10. If you want to see linux get into the mainstream people who hardly have
>> any real experience, then you need to encourage the totally computer
>> illiterate users to be involved and to learn.

> I don't think anyone has ever been discouraged from _learning_.

Although they have occasionally been encouraged to learn quite 
brusquely... (-:

>> One of the problem i face personally is what is an easy (obvious) question
>> and what isn't?

> Easy/obvious is entirely relative. Noone cares how easy/obvious something
> might be. A lot of people care that the person asking the question has
> done some preliminary research to establish what the question should be,
> determine what information they should provide to people trying to answer
> it, and make some effort towards narrowing down the problem space.

And also towards developing their own successful problem-solving skills, 
which is a far more self-beneficial thing than actually getting the 
answer, most times.
-- 
"I recently shampooed my pet rabbit with Body Shop shampoo. Its eyes
bulged out and turned red. If you tested your stuff on animals like
everyone else, this sort of thing wouldn't happen."
     -- Extract from a customer complaint letter