[dundee] Next Meeting

[Mark Harrigan]

On Wed, Jun 25, 2003 at 11:00:21PM +0100, Andrew Clayton wrote:
> 
> 
> > that trivial rtfm) and 2) will you remember that obscure syntax
> 
> RTFM is all very well... but theres no rule that says we can't also be a
> bit more helpful.
> 
True, true. 
> 
> > by the time you get home, 3) some people may get bored out of their trees.
> > 
> > That sort of general Q&A session might be
> > better suited to a meeting where we brought our own machines and setup
> > a LAN that way the experienced person gets to have a poke and the
> > newbie catches onto things they may have missed/experienced user
> 
> I think the word your looking for is BOF.
> 
Definately not, it's just remarkable standing behind someone
knowledgeable and seeing little tricks they would take for granted and
forget to mention.
> 
> Whatever... allot time for it then during the meeting. Though I thought
> we had agreed that 1.5 hours for "official" but could go on "an extra
> half hour" with whatever and if people were willing.
Yes true, but I don't want to make this mandatory. When everyone else
buggers off I don't feel it's fair to leave someone hanging for 2
people. If there's a large group of people who want to continue and
the representative (ie Simon) agrees then sure no problem but there
needs to be a lot of interest as I don't feel it's fair, just because
Simon agreed to be the dept representative doesn't mean he should
guilted into staying for 2 or 3 people who could easily use IRC or the
mailing list to discuss their problem.
> I'm not envisioning (not sure exactly what Keir had in mind) huge
> sweeping technical questions. Nor it being a formal thing, just if
> someone has some simple questions they'd like answering. 10-15 minutes
> tops....
> 
> 
> > 
> > > Probably best though to keep the questions relatively simple and which
> > > only require brief answers, otherwise a written medium is probably
> > > better.
> > As above regarding RTFM. Possibly harsh but it's a lesson that does
> > need learnt by every newbie. 
> > 
> 
> Yeah.. RTFM is an easy cop out to answering the question. At the very
> least you can give a brief answer and then point to the FM/D for more
> details.
I'm not pushing it out as an easy cop out, I just feel that people
have to forced into the appropriate thought pattern of reading before
asking silly questions, this is not elitism, tis a life skill and is
especially valuable in the world of *nix. 
I'd be more than happy to push someone in the right direction but I
don't think a LUG is here to babysit newbies either.  

Mark