Date:	Sun, 14 Jun 1998 13:36:15 +0300 (IDT)
From:	Eli Zaretskii <eliz AT is DOT elta DOT co DOT il>
To:	"Johnny P." <gimli AT interaccess DOT com>
cc:	djgpp AT delorie DOT com
Subject:	Re: [Allegro] Looking for simple GUI examples
In-Reply-To:	<6lrbd8$bj1$1@supernews.com>
Message-ID:	<Pine.SUN.3.91.980614133530.6294L-100000@is>
MIME-Version:	1.0

On Fri, 12 Jun 1998, Johnny P. wrote:

> >Also, please people, start
> >reading the docs! It's all in there, in good ole' plain english!
> 
> Although usually quiet, I have a problem with comments like the above being
> sent in reply to posts and I wish to give my opinion.
> I don't assume anyone has read the docs.  If they haven't read them, and a
> question is asked, then point them to the right doc if the answer for what
> they need _is_ there.  Some of you are great at this, and if I was told
> every time I asked "look in the docs," I would probably stop posting to the
> newsgroup.  Some people just aren't great at sifting through the volumes of
> information just to find the thing they are looking for.  There are also
> some foreign programmer's who don't speak or read English very well and
> sometimes code examples make more sense.  Let's be a little open to other
> people's needs and not so "read the stinkin' docs" about things.

I think this news group is generally *extremely* open to people who
cannot be bothered to read the docs.  Most questions get answered even
if they are covered in the docs, and most pointers to the docs are
exact, i.e. with a URL and/or section number.

But please note that there is a balance to be struck here, between the
good will of those who answer questions and those who ask them before
investing a moment to look at the available documentation.  I think
people who provide help here have A LOT of good will, but please don't
abuse it.  This isn't a free hot line, and most of us do have life
beyond DJGPP; we are also human and have our bad days occasionally.

So please make a good-faith effort to find the info in the docs before
posting, and do let this show in your questions.  Replying to a
question which clearly shows the effort on your behalf to understand
the problem and find the solution in the docs is much more pleasant,
believe me.

> I read the docs, but sometimes the docs are missing something.  If
> they had everything in them, this group wouldn't exist.

People who read the docs should ask questions which are aimed at the
missing bits, instead of asking a general question.  When you post a
general question of which 90% is covered by the docs, there's no way
for me to know why the docs aren't enough for you.  Getting efficient
help requires some effort on behalf of the questor: the more specific
the question is, the higher the probability of your getting the info
you need.

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