92 lines
3.6 KiB
HTML
92 lines
3.6 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE html>
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<html lang="en">
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<head>
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<title>Don't ask to ask, just ask</title>
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<h1>Don't ask to ask, just ask</h1>
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<p>
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Every now and then, in online chat rooms I hang around in, someone pops
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in and says something in the lines of,
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</p>
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<blockquote>
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<span class="name">Foobar123:</span>
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<p class="message">
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Any Java experts around?
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</p>
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</blockquote>
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<p>
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This is bad form, for several reasons. What the person is
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<em>actually</em> asking here is,
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</p>
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<blockquote>
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<span class="name">Foobar123:</span>
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<p class="message">
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Any Java experts around who are willing to commit into looking into my
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problem, whatever that may turn out to be, even if it's not actually
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related to Java or if someone who doesn't know anything about Java
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could actually answer my question?
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</p>
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</blockquote>
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<p>
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There are plenty of reasons why people who DO have the knowledge would
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not admit to it. By asking, you're asking for more than what you think
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you're asking.
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</p>
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<p>
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You're asking people to take responsibility. You're questioning people's
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confidence in their abilities. You're also unnecessarily walling other
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people out. I often answer questions related to languages or libraries I
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have never used, because the answers are (in a programmer kind of way)
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common sense.
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</p>
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<p>
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Alternatively, it can be seen as..
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</p>
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<blockquote>
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<span class="name">Foobar123:</span>
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<p class="message">
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I have a question about Java but I'm too lazy to actually formalize it
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in words unless there's someone on the channel who might be able to
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answer it
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</p>
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</blockquote>
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<p>
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..which is just lazy. If you're not willing to do the work to solve your
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problem, why should we?
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</p>
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<p>
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The solution is not to ask to ask, but just to ask. Someone who is idling
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on the channel and only every now and then glances what's going on is
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unlikely to answer to your "asking to ask" question, but your actual
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problem description may pique their interest and get them to answer.
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</p>
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<p>
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So, to summarize, don't ask
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<em>"Any Java experts around?"</em>,
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but rather ask
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<em>"How do I do [problem] with Java and [other relevant info]?"</em>
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</p>
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<p>
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Other similar problems: <a href="https://xyproblem.info/">The XY Problem</a>, <a href="https://nohello.net/">No Hello</a>.
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Further reading: <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/help/how-to-ask">How do I ask a good question?</a>,
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or if you have more time: <a href="http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html">How To Ask Questions The Smart Way</a>.
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</p>
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</main>
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<footer>
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Content mostly stolen from <a href="https://iki.fi/sol/dontask.html">iki.fi/sol/dontask.html</a>
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<a href="https://github.com/maunium/dontasktoask.com">Source on GitHub</a>
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