[MPlayer-users] How to ask smart questions

[Diego Biurrun]

Chris Phillips writes:
 > just looking through http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html 
 > and then looking at half the questions on this list... wow, how to break 
 > every rule in the book. Shame there's no way to make people read it.

That document is really good.  I'll excerpt some of the highlights,
maybe it will help a little bit ;)

Diego



Before You Ask

Before asking a technical question by email, or in a newsgroup, or on
a website chat board, do the following:

Procedure 1.

   1. Try to find an answer by searching the Web.
   2. Try to find an answer by reading the manual.
   3. Try to find an answer by reading a FAQ.
   4. Try to find an answer by inspection or experimentation.
   5. Try to find an answer by asking a skilled friend.
   6. If you are a programmer, try to find an answer by reading the
      source code.

When you ask your question, display the fact that you have done these
things first; this will help establish that you're not being a lazy
sponge and wasting people's time. Better yet, display what you have
learned from doing these things. We like answering questions for
people who have demonstrated that they can learn from the answers.

Never assume you are entitled to an answer. You are not; you aren't,
after all, paying for the service. You will earn an answer, if you
earn it, by asking a question that is substantial, interesting, and
thought-provoking ? one that implicitly contributes to the experience
of the community rather than merely passively demanding knowledge from
others.

On the other hand, making it clear that you are able and willing to
help in the process of developing the solution is a very good
start. "Would someone provide a pointer?", "What is my example
missing?" and "What site should I have checked?" are more likely to
get answered than "Please post the exact procedure I should use."
because you're making it clear that you're truly willing to complete
the process if someone can simply point you in the right direction.