It's been said before and it'll be said again

From time to time a node is posted that bears a strong resemblance to a node, or nodes, seen pinned to the walls of the Monastery in some far off corner. When such a node appears it is often followed by a few muttered imprecations, or howls of outrage, to the effect that "we have seen this before" (and a -- frenzy, but that is of minor import).

But is it really a Bad Thing^™ to post duplicate material?

The mix of those wandering the corridors comprise a good number of old hands (who likely have seen the material before and understand the issue in any case), and a bunch of new faces eager for enlightenment who haven't discovered the magic doors Search and Super Search.

PerlMonks generally has a fairly large proportion of initiates and novices wandering the coridors. They are not experienced in the ways of the Monastery and often can not search effectively or make good use of the other resources available here. This is a direct reason for duplicate posts: they don't know any better and haven't managed to find the previous material. Is this a problem? If it is, it is a site problem and not something we should be thumping our new life-blood for not understanding. Bear in mind too that if one person is motivated enough to post, there are probably others who find the information timely.

How about an experienced monk who does all the right things, then chooses to post a duplicate node because the times have changed and new information is available or a new perspective is provided. Is this a problem? Absolutely not! New information and keeping up with change are to be encouraged.

Or the same monk who searched, but failed to find the previous material? Again not a problem. If one experienced monk failed in a search, there are bound to be others who have the same problem. Consider it as another search key, and remember to provide links to the previous material.

None of these scenarios are cause for concern. What other reasons might there be? The storage requirements for text associated with nodes is generally very modest - no reason there.

So many posts you can't read them all? That's a sign that PerlMonks is doing a good job, but is hardly a reason to reject duplicate posts. You should learn to filter things a little perhaps, or you may accidentally end up learning something you didn't intend to.

OP was obviously just copying another node? Well, maybe that's a problem. If it's word for word then maybe copyright kicks in and you can do your downvote thing. Otherwise it's likely just "time to railroad".

So, if you have seen it before, wander off to the remote corner where you saw it, make a map and pin it to the bottom of the new node. Without wishing to duplicate another node: if you do locate a previous node and post a link to it, post your search terms too.

Duplicate nodes are not the issue. The more important thing is to link to related material elsewhere to leverage the information provided in the new node and make our rich plethora of material as accessible as possible. After all, where would Paco be if no one ever referenced his seminal node?

Update: fix the seminal node link

DWIM is Perl's answer to Gödel

Comment on It's been said before and it'll be said again

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: It's been said before and it'll be said again by creamygoodness (Curate) on Dec 13, 2005 at 12:00 UTC
One thing that might help is an automatic-search-before-post scheme: when someone hits the 'preview' button the first time, a standard search gets run using their title as a query string and they are shown the results before they get the opportunity to confirm via the 'create' button. -- Marvin Humphrey Rectangular Research ― http://www.rectangular.com	[reply]
Re^2: It's been said before and it'll be said again by marto (Cardinal) on Dec 13, 2005 at 12:33 UTC
Hi creamygoodness, In New node - Supersearch - Feature proposal ! prad_intel suggested a similar idea, it got some interesting replys. Martin	[reply]
Re^3: It's been said before and it'll be said again by creamygoodness (Curate) on Dec 13, 2005 at 13:17 UTC
Yup, similar, though what I was suggesting was much more modest. The scheme works well at http://www.jguru.com. -- Marvin Humphrey Rectangular Research ― http://www.rectangular.com	[reply]
A reply falls below the community's threshold of quality. You may see it by logging in.
Re: It's been said before and it'll be said again by spiritway (Vicar) on Dec 14, 2005 at 06:15 UTC
I like your view on this, GrandFather- it's refreshing. I'm sure it must get very tedious for the old-timers to keep seeing the same basic questions time and again, but they're new for the people who ask them. I think the more senior monks sometimes forget how much they've learned here (and elsewhere), and figure everyone should know about what they do. Of course, the new guys don't... Perlmonks is one of the most valuable resources I know to learn and use Perl (the other is CPAN). There is so much richness of information here, but it's not always obvious (especially to a new person) how to find it. So yes, repetition is inevitable, and I agree it's not necessarily a Bad Thing.	[reply]
Re^2: It's been said before and it'll be said again by GrandFather (Saint) on Dec 14, 2005 at 07:03 UTC
Despite my user name I'm a youngster here too (see my home node and have written my share of duplicate nodes. It was a reply to one such node in the somewhat distant past (the "meditation" had a long gestation) that prompted the node. DWIM is Perl's answer to Gödel	[reply]
Re: It's been said before and it'll be said again by dokkeldepper (Friar) on Dec 15, 2005 at 11:11 UTC
Dear co-monks, as real perl believers we want to make proselytes every time and every place. With every new follower of perl old questions are restated again and again. Restating old questions, beyond pure stupidity (but do stupids really like perl?) , is not necessarily a bad thing. It is merely a sign of the healthy growth of the number of followers in our beloved rel...language. Isn't it? Moreover, while some experienced monks may find it boring, the even more experienced ones may find even the old questions stated in another context interesting. I would claim that I always learned much more from the disussion than from the "one" correct answer itself. Finally (ups){ although it should be recommended to use search before one states a question, it should not be enforced. }	[reply]
Re: It's been said before and it'll be said again by sub_chick (Hermit) on Dec 15, 2005 at 21:51 UTC
Me being a new comer to perl, I can say that perlmonks.org is my main resource in my learning experience. I know of no other community as good as this one. As far as repeated post, I know that for myself...I tend to do a couple of searches and read tutorials before I try to post in SoPW. So, I would have to agree with what GrandFather was saying, that to the newer people, they don't really know what's been asked and most are just so eager to get answers that they tend to not search around as much as they should. But, inevitably, I'm sure duplicate posts are here to stay in just about every online community. "Es gibt mehr zu Leben als Bücher, kennen Sie. Aber nicht viel mehr " -(Der Smiths)	[reply]
Re: It's been said before and it'll be said again by philcrow (Priest) on Dec 15, 2005 at 22:14 UTC
I agree with the OP. I think of PM sort of like a virtual programming shop. If someone from another department walks in to my office and asks a basic Perl question, I answer it. This is true even if the save someone asks the same question every six months. Same goes here. Sometimes my answer is to hand them a book, but if so, I'll open it to the right page and give a few pointers before sending them off to read the fine manual. Phil	[reply]
Re: It's been said before and it'll be said again by tweetiepooh (Hermit) on Dec 16, 2005 at 16:43 UTC
One thing to consider is that there may be an issue with how to ask the question. Search is all very well if the information contains the words you are using in the search. The asker may not even be using the "right" words. They may not know how to ask the question but can sort of hint at the problem. The asker may also be completely on the wrong track so the answer could be that there is a better way or even the intended way is so far off the true path that it's about to disappear over the edge of a crevase.	[reply]
Re: It's been said before and it'll be said again by kulls (Hermit) on Dec 13, 2005 at 12:30 UTC
We can put a question mark while approving any node. Seems logical? -kulls	[reply]
Re: It's been said before and it'll be said again by Anonymous Monk on Dec 13, 2005 at 19:51 UTC
Why is it a bad thing? Is it not sort of confirmation, even though not a confirmation of truth, it is a confirmation that others have similar thoughts.	[reply]
Re: It's been said before and it'll be said again by Anonymous Monk on Dec 13, 2005 at 19:47 UTC
XP point is not a measurement of wisedom, but the effort. Keep posting/voting/visiting and in 10 years, you will become a pop in 10 years. There is nothing wrong to duplicate answrs, even in the same thread. Don't assume that people is copying your answers. For example, I never read other replies before I come up with my own, as I care the questions, not the answers. I come here because I want to help the guy who had trouble, not to read any shit answer. Considered: GrandFather: reep - troll (same one?) Unconsidered: g0n - enough keep votes ( Keep: 8, Edit: 0, Reap: 11 )	[reply]
A reply falls below the community's threshold of quality. You may see it by logging in.