in reply to Re: Downvoting & XP
in thread Downvoting & XP

I've never understood why people think that How to Ask Questions The Smart Way is good advice to give people.

Yes, I know very well that anyone who takes the advice there will probably benefit from the advice.

However the way that that advice is presented virtually guarantees that people who need the advice will not actually read it. Furthermore the tone of the article, from start to finish, stands out as a canonical example of how not to give advice. (Unless your goal in giving advice is to be left feeling justified in proceeding to flame people for not taking your advice.)

Those flaws far outweigh the content for me.

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Re: Re: Re: Downvoting & XP
by blue_cowdawg (Monsignor) on May 05, 2004 at 00:29 UTC

        I've never understood why people think that How to Ask Questions The Smart Way is good advice to give people.

    You have an alternative? In spite of editorial issues I still think the content is valid. Yes, it could be stated nicer, but it still makes valid points.

[reply]
      Plenty of alternatives exist that cover some of the same material. You linked to one on this site. Another is How to get the most of your question from the monks.

      It would be easy to rewrite ESR's piece to say the same things and not offend. The problem is that without ESR's name recognition, it is hard to get it out there, and I'm sure that ESR doesn't see the issue and so wouldn't accept the suggested update.
[reply]

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