I must agree with. Sybrand, Howard, Jonathon, Norman, Nuno etc. ( No
offense if I skipped anybody) have all proven to be fantastic resources.
Occasionally yes, you will get a terse answer suggesting you might RTFM for
basic questions, but I have seen nothing but helpful responses when a person
has put forth some effort on their part to at least understand the question
they are asking. No one is being forced to contribute but these very
talented people are willing to help out others with less or different
experience. I have not seen any evidence of a prima donna complex, no one
comes across as treating you like a silly newbie if you show evidence of
some effort. They are not here to provide a free consulting service, the
focus is more on educating. As a matter of fact, I have included some of
these people in interview questions for developers. I ask where would you
find Sybrand, Howard, Tom... if you needed assistance. I want to know that
the person has enough of an interest in their work to want to keep expanding
their knowledge. If they aren't browsing the newsgroups these names won't
mean much to them, but if they do know, I count it as a plus. I know I
have been able to learn a great deal from reading their replies, even if it
doesn't relate to a problem I currently have. I have, more than once,
impressed my boss with knowledge I got from the newsgroups. I have also
learned that I should not post a question that is covered on page 2 of the
oracle documentation or ask a question without providing a platform and
version. Having gone through the material for 9i I was amazed at all the
changes that were made. Version 8 doesn't have Java support while 8i does.
There are so many differences that most of the answers will be version
specific (even to what is supported in SQL i.e. CASE, WITH). Miss Cleo
isn't posting on this board so unless the version is stated, no one can tell
which answer is needed. (oh the number of post I have seen asking how to
set up utl_ftp on a 7.3 or 8.0 instance). If you aren't willing to put
forth at least a little bit of effort you shouldn't be surprised or offended
by the type of response you get.
Norman Dunbar <Norman.Dunbar_at_lfs.co.uk> wrote in message
news:E2F6A70FE45242488C865C3BC1245DA72714EA_at_lnewton.leeds.lfs.co.uk...
> Neil,
>
> Just a tad unkind.
> Sybrand, like the rest of us, help out voluntarily.
> He answers a whole load of queries on this NG, sometimes over and over
> and over again - because people don't seem to want to check out the
> archives, first - understandable when in a fix, but ...
> And time and time again, someone asks a question which is specific to a
> version of Oracle. Whoever answers the question needs to know the
> version.
> And time and time again, no error messages are posted, we get something
> like 'blah doesn't work' - not much use to anyone that.
> So eventually, the responders on this list get a bit/a lot/seriously
> p*ss*d off and growl.
>
> Some more than others.
>
> Sybrand is highly respected amongst us regulars and has a very high
> understanding of Oracle. If you want answers, give the correct info up
> front when you ask, and at least try to find out if it has been answered
> before.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Norman.
>
> PS. I'm not a boffin !
> I too am a mere mortal - compared with most of the 'big guns' on this
> list.
> I try to be helpful - but the quality of the reply is directly
> proportional to the quality of the input information.
> If I post a stupid question - that has been answered before - I expect a
> bollocking.
> It's not easy being a DBA.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> -----
> Norman Dunbar EMail: Norman.Dunbar_at_LFS.co.uk
> Database/Unix administrator Phone: 0113 289 6265
> Fax: 0113 289 3146
> Lynx Financial Systems Ltd. URL: http://www.Lynx-FS.com
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Neil Garner [mailto:Jim_at_garner21.freeserve.co.uk]
> Posted At: Sunday, October 28, 2001 11:10 AM
> Posted To: server
> Conversation: Sybrand Bakker
> Subject: Sybrand Bakker
>
>
> Thank you for your comments.
> My suspicion that using a newsgroup with highly educated/experienced
> boffins, who look down on us mere mortals/learners/beginners with the
> contempt, we obviously deserve, has once again been thoroughly
> confirmed.
>
> Hth,
>
>
>
Received on Tue Oct 30 2001 - 07:45:38 CST
