Totally agree. He should lighten up a bit, or bite his tongue much of the time. I do respect his talent, however. Of course, Tom has been known to be flippant and crude, although you can find valuable information in his answers.

I stopped reading USENET groups some time ago, but someone should have told Abigail 'NO WEB' to his answer ;)

We (at least us ops) can be the same way as this on #perl (EFNet), and we know it. But, the difference is that #perl isn't a helpdesk, but news groups generally are (just as PerlMonks is). It is easy to say RTFM to simple questions, found in FAQs. But, when asked at a helpdesk, a decent answer should be given. Surprisingly, not everyone knows how to use perldoc, or 'man', or how to clearly ask what they are looking for. We should, IMO, try to understand this when being 'helpers'. Anyways, just my $.02.

Cheers,
KM