Hi Paul,
I agree. The ideal case should be to read the documentation first, make a
reasonable attempt to solve your problem, then ask a question.
I have never posted a question to the list because I am usually able to slog
through and solve my own problems. 99% of the time I fix these problems by
carefully reading the documentation, checking meta-link, and then doing a
quick web search. For example, I recently had trouble getting 9i to install
and run on Suse Linux Professional (I was a Red Hat only guy until
recently). I solved the problem with in 30 minutes by doing a quick search
on meta-link. However, I am supporting development and testing right now,
and not production, so my urgency is less than it could be for other
problems.
I have learned from the list by "lurking" in some discussions without
responding, but I have learned less than I would have hoped. I have only
been participating for a few months, and I believe I have contributed more
than I have learned, but I was hoping for more.
The list does say don't reply to RTFM questions, and I am guilty of ignoring
this rule. Should this be enforced more? It would add value to experienced
folks, but I am not the moderator.
Beginners have the most questions, and Oracle only gets more complex over
time, so I am sympathetic. If the list is targeted to beginners, the
experienced folks will slowly drop off, which removes the pool of
experienced responders needed to keep the list going.
Regards,
Chris
----------------------------------------------------
Chris Weiss, Blueoak Database Engineering, LLC
http://www.blueoakdb.com
PH: 517-381-9305
CELL: 517-974-5634
eFAX: 801-340-0740
-----Original Message-----
From: Paul Murgatroyd
[mailto:oracledba-ezmlmshield-x25563121.[Email address protected]
Sent: Wednesday, October 27, 2004 10:28 AM
To: LazyDBA Discussion
Subject: Purpose of Lazy DBA
Hi,
Can I ask a basic question - what is the main purpose of this group?
Is it a place for total beginners to learn how to be a DBA, or is there some
level of self help that is expected of people before they ask a question?
There seems to be an awful lot of questions that can be answered if people
would bother to spend 5 minutes looking up the information in the
documentation, OTN, or MetaLink.
I know it is called "Lazy DBA", but I think this is taking it too literally.
If the main purpose is as a training ground for people just starting out
with Oracle, then it does not really offer anything to an experienced DBA,
which is precisely the type of person I would have expected would have the
most to contribute..
What are other people's thoughts on this? Are my expectations too high?
Paul
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