[Tom9729]

I post links that answer (or help to answer) the question when I don't have time, or don't want to type a full response. Sometimes I don't know enough about the subject to answer completely, but that doesn't mean I can't post a link to a resource that I think may be helpful.

More than half the questions posted on this site could be answered if the asker bothered to spend a couple of minutes searching Google. If they can't take the time to do their own research, why should anywhere here take the time to do it for them?

[optix212]

Quote

Perhaps i'm misunderstanding, but what's the purpose of regurtitating information which has already been clearly explained elsewhere on the web? Why does it annoy you when that happens? Surely the lesson to learn from these experiences is that you should check google first before hitting 'reply'

Well, that is a double edged sword. There is loads of information in the web, possibly everything there is to be known about this world is on the web. Put it this way, if a family didn't put their child in school, and just sat him or her down in front of Google and told him to start Googling things for 6 hours a day, until he was 18, chances are he would be smarter than any kid that went to public school.

what im trying to get at here, is that any bit of information or knowledge you express here, had been typed up somewhere on the web before, therefore there is no possible way to run a Programming community without regurgitation of information in the internet.

Hell, that little theory i wrote up there is probably written down somewhere in the bowels of the internet.

[Bench]

optix212, on 5 Jan, 2010 - 04:11 PM, said:

There is loads of information in the web, possibly everything there is to be known about this world is on the web. Put it this way, if a family didn't put their child in school, and just sat him or her down in front of Google and told him to start Googling things for 6 hours a day, until he was 18, chances are he would be smarter than any kid that went to public school.

what im trying to get at here, is that any bit of information or knowledge you express here, had been typed up somewhere on the web before, therefore there is no possible way to run a Programming community without regurgitation of information in the internet.

I agree - there will very rarely be any truly original information. Perhaps it may seem like I'm splitting hairs a little, but I was specifically replying to the part about "I typed an explanation then someone replied after me with a link containing exactly the same thing I just typed";
It sounds like this was in answer to something which is very well explained and well documented elsewhere on the web in a detailed, accurate tutorial (thinking of quality/relevence too) by someone who knows what they're talking about, so it seems like a waste of time pasting or reciting something which resembles the same explanation in a forum box.

Of course there are still many questions asked here which aren't "FAQ like", or they're specific, detailed questions by someone who has taken time to investigate their problem (so they've almost certainly seen those FAQ answers already); and I agree that pasting a link in reply to those is usually inappropriate.

This post has been edited by Bench: 05 January 2010 - 10:49 AM

[optix212]

therefore, if the question involves a broad range of answers, something like "How do i learn C++" then a link would be appropriate, but if the question had a more narrow range, and was well researched, then i would definitely find it inappropriate, and if i was the poster, i might even find it kind of offensive.