From: oracle-l-bounce@(protected) [mailto:oracle-l-bounce@(protected)] On Behalf Of Richard Ji Sent: Wednesday, October 19, 2005 1:56 PM To: bob_murching@(protected) Cc: cmarquez@(protected); rjsearle@(protected); Oracle Mailing List Subject: Re: DATAFILE??
Alright, I will get bashed by saying this, but so what. This list used to have a lot of experts and I mean very experts in the Oracle field. I am seeing a trend where the experts on this list is writing less and less. And maybe it's because they are all just too busy, but I think part of it is because this list has turn into a more newbie list and not everyone has Tom Kyte patience answering newbie questions. I remember there was a discussion a while ago about creating a separate list for entry level questions and the mid-level to advanced discussions, but it got nowhere.
I am not sure how we can collectively balance out as you suggested. Should we take turns ask one mid to advanced question for every newbie question posted to keep this list interesting?
Richard
On 10/19/05, Murching, Bob <bob_murching@(protected)> wrote:
I don't mind occasional questions whose answers can be searched. The vast majority of questions asked here could be answered by searching the net, if not tahiti then one of the many sites that Google indexes. Besides, when someone asks a question whose answer is reasonably well known, usually two things very good things happen:
1. Many subscribers learn something that we might not otherwise have learned if the question had never been asked---irrespective of whether or not the answer is in the Oracle manual!
2. People with midrange skill sets get to exercise their ability to communicate, answer questions, help others out. If "RTFM and only come here if the answer is not in the manual nor online" is the policy of this list, then this list becomes the exclusive domain of questions that only experts can answer. I don't see that as anything to be particularly proud of. Dialogue and traffic on the mundane generally is of greater benefit than being a witness to the esoteric.
If it's really egregious then it needs to be put to a stop, and that balance is something we collectively have to work out amongst ourselves. I don't think we should err to either extreme, however, and in fact I think the current makeup of questions on this list is pretty good.
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2769" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=008531318-19102005><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>No bashing from here.</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=008531318-19102005><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Completely agree.</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=008531318-19102005>Igor</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr align=left> <HR tabIndex=-1> <FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>From:</B> oracle-l-bounce@(protected) [mailto:oracle-l-bounce@(protected)] <B>On Behalf Of </B>Richard Ji<BR><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, October 19, 2005 1:56 PM<BR><B>To:</B> bob_murching@(protected)<BR><B>Cc:</B> cmarquez@(protected); rjsearle@(protected); Oracle Mailing List<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re: DATAFILE??<BR></FONT><BR></DIV> <DIV></DIV>Alright, I will get bashed by saying this, but so what. This list used to<BR>have a lot of experts and I mean very experts in the Oracle field. I<BR>am seeing a trend where the experts on this list is writing less and less.<BR>And maybe it's because they are all just too busy, but I think part of it is because<BR>this list has turn into a more newbie list and not everyone has Tom Kyte<BR>patience answering newbie questions. I remember there was a discussion<BR>a while ago about creating a separate list for entry level questions and the mid-level<BR>to advanced discussions, but it got nowhere.<BR><BR>I am not sure how we can collectively balance out as you suggested.<BR>Should we take turns ask one mid to advanced question for every newbie<BR>question posted to keep this list interesting?<BR><BR>Richard<BR><BR> <DIV><SPAN class=gmail_quote>On 10/19/05, <B class=gmail_sendername>Murching, Bob</B> <<A href="mailto:bob_murching@(protected)">bob_murching@(protected)</A>> wrote:</SPAN> <BLOCKQUOTE class=gmail_quote style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: rgb(204,204 ,204) 1px solid"> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>I don't mind occasional questions whose answers can be searched. The vast majority of questions asked here could be answered by searching the net, if not tahiti then one of the many sites that Google indexes. Besides, when someone asks a question whose answer is reasonably well known, usually two things very good things happen:</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>1. Many subscribers learn something that we might not otherwise have learned if the question had never been asked---irrespective of whether or not the answer is in the Oracle manual! </FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>2. People with midrange skill sets get to exercise their ability to communicate, answer questions, help others out. If "RTFM and only come here if the answer is not in the manual nor online" is the policy of this list, then this list becomes the exclusive domain of questions that only experts can answer. I don't see that as anything to be particularly proud of. Dialogue and traffic on the mundane generally is of greater benefit than being a witness to the esoteric.</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>If it's really egregious then it needs to be put to a stop, and that balance is something we collectively have to work out amongst ourselves. I don't think we should err to either extreme, however, and in fact I think the current makeup of questions on this list is pretty good.</FONT></SPAN></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR></BODY></HTML>
