Does anyone remember the old joke where an Australian wonders into an Irish pub, and the old men are calling out numbers, and everyone laughs http://www.popculturemadness.com/Trivia/May/23.html?

Well it occurred to me that with the internet and all, and PerlMonks, life is almost like that!

How often does a FAQ or a not-so-frequently asked question get asked, and the answer is a link?

As this is a meditation please don't look for a point, because I have none, merely I am sitting and observing the world at play, as I like to do from time to time.

Sometimes a link is invaluable.. "why didn't I think of that", or "what a great idea" is the response. Often in perusing someone else's answer I find myself inspired by the single link.

Sometimes a baby-step tutorial is the answer. This, too, is of great use particularly when one needs to get started and is daunted by the amass of links out there.

I guess it's possible for some of the old-timers amongst us to expect one to google as easily as we do, and yet googling is a fine art. We've learnt, through time and misfortune, that entering the wrong set of keywords does not yield anything close to approximating the answer we're looking for. So the tutorial approach for a newcomer sometimes is indeed appropriate.

I'm going to wind up my musing there because it's in high danger of becoming more waffly than an American breakfast. Thankyou for your ears.

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: PerlMonks and Linking
by gmax (Abbot) on Jun 01, 2005 at 15:39 UTC

    Perlmonks is a great quoting machine.

    When you join, you are invited to reasearch, and even encouraged to prepare for a good question. There is even an advanced essay on how to research.

    As a consequence, when you become an experienced monk, you quote and link whenever you can, also because you want to conform to the other great monastery chant: "don't reinvent the wheel".

    As merlyn's links and quotes became legendary (have you ever seen any of his I-have-a-column-about-that answers?) many monks contributed to the Tutorials, so that, when the time comes, we are able to link to something that we consider appropriate. (I did it!)

    Thus, I am on the "first-tutorial-and-then-link" side.

    Now, let me finish by offering you some feedback on the great force of PerlMonks.

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Re: PerlMonks and Linking
by tlm (Prior) on Jun 01, 2005 at 16:15 UTC

    My favorite verse in my favorite node, 1st Monasterians, is an injunction to teach with links:

    Do not rebuke them with harsh words such as "RTFM",
    but rather lead them gently - with URLs - so that they
    may learn wisdom.
    I don't know why I find the little "with URLs" parenthetical so hilarious. Maybe it's its soooothing sound (if one makes it rhyme with "curls"). Or the off-beat association between gentleness and URLs. But when one thinks about it, this association is not as whacky as it may seem at first. Offering a link is both useful to the recipient, and quick for the offerer, without coming across as curt; after all, the offerer took the extra trouble (however tiny) to make a link to something presumably useful. It is, ultimately, a simple friendly gesture, even if many of us now do it automatically (like so many other friendly gestures); I am glad that it has become a "local custom." It is one of the many things that help set the tone for the place.

    Incidentally, I'd be hard-pressed to cite a node (including anything in the site docs) that does a better job of conveying the essence of PM than 1st Monansterians.

    the lowliest monk

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Re: PerlMonks and Linking
by merlyn (Sage) on Jun 01, 2005 at 14:58 UTC
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Re: PerlMonks and Linking
by bunnyman (Hermit) on Jun 03, 2005 at 20:33 UTC
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Re: PerlMonks and Linking
by Anonymous Monk on Jun 02, 2005 at 16:59 UTC
    OxABDFADCBC !!!

    Unconsidered delete by holli - enough keep votes (4/1/5)

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