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Being a monk: why you'll love it, why you'll hate it

by bronto (Priest)
on Oct 14, 2002 at 16:14 UTC ( [id://205136]=perlmeditation: print w/replies, xml ) Need Help??

Preface

It's several weeks that I have this meditation in mind, but I had not a lot of time for even lurking PerlMonks. Now I'm ill, and didn't went to work, and when I have come back to the monastery I read this node and many of its replies. So I decide to lay my thoughts on the keyboard

Being a monk: why you'll love it, why you'll hate it

Why you'll love it

  • You learn something new from many nodes you read;
  • you learn something new even about arguments that are not strictly perl, but are related to it (e.g.: UNIX shells, Databases, network protocols, security...);
  • You can exchange ideas with other Perl programmers, which is an invaluable benefit, especially if you are the only Perl programmer around your town;
  • You get good advice from experienced perl programmers;
  • You get good advice from experienced perl book writers;
  • Someone will say you taught him/her something new, and it will make you happy!
  • Some node of yours get a high reputation, and you'll love it;
  • You write a node saying something that you think is obvious for everyone, and in spite of that you get a lot of reputation from it;
  • You see your XP go up and up, and you see yourself becoming a monk, friar, abbot..., and you'll be proud of it.

Why you'll hate it

  • You'll get bored of replying to questions that are FAQs;
  • you'll get bothered from discussion that aren't strictly related to Perl ("Hey! We ain't MySQL-Monks, are we?");
  • You will look for someone to collaborate with your project and find none;
  • You'll ask questions that are fundamental for you, hoping to get good advice from experienced perl programmers or perl book writers... and you'll get none;
  • Someone will downvote a node that you wrote thinking it surely was a very good reply and that it would give you a lot of reputation;
  • Some node of yours get a negative reputation, and you'll hate it;
  • The best node you ever wrote, in your opinion; the worse node of the Monastery, in the opinion of nearly any other monk;
  • Yor XP is stuck and you had your last "promotion" a long time ago, and this makes you sad;
  • You found some monks that downvote your nodes saying "You don't understand this and that of Perl", and the real thing is that you understand this, and that, and those much better than them: they simply fast-read your node and didn't get the question;
  • You will find some monks so stupid to downvote every node you'll post

Ok, kill me now! :-)

Ciao!
--bronto

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Being alive, why you'll love it why you'll hate it.
by clintp (Curate) on Oct 14, 2002 at 16:47 UTC
    I think with a simple s/PerlMonks/Life/g these are a bit more broad. :)

    Life, Why you'll love it

    • You'll learn something new from many experiences you have
    • You'll lean something new even about things that are not strictly about your life, but related to it (philosophy, art, science).
    • You can exchange ideas with contemperaries.
    • You'll get good advice from people experienced at living.
    • You'll get good adivce from people experienced at giving good advice.
    • Someone will say you taught him/her something new and it will make you happy!
    • Some things you do will be praised by others, and you'll be proud.
    • You say something obvious to you, but those around you didn't think it was so obvious and receive praise.
    • You see your karma going up and up... (insert afterlife statement here)

    Why you'll hate it

    • You'll get bored with dealing with the same kinds of people, over and over again.
    • You'll get bothered by people whose interests aren't exactly yours.
    • You'll look for help, and find yourself alone.
    • You'll ask important earth-shattering questions, and receive only silence in response.
    • You'll be criticised for things you thought you did well.
    • You'll be ashamed of things you did poorly.
    • When you've worked very hard at something, tried your best, and did a wonderful job it will fail anyway.
    • You keep getting re-incarnated, darn it... :)
    • You'll be misunderstood and harassed by people who simply aren't paying attention to what you're trying to say.
    • You'll run into people who will hate you for no reason at all.
Re: Being a monk: why you'll love it, why you'll hate it
by Revelation (Deacon) on Oct 14, 2002 at 18:32 UTC
    why you'll love it
    • Perlmonks provides you with a place to ask questions, without feeling stupid. Even a badly informed question is well received here.
    • Perlmonks uses 'the everything engine', and I just love the additions that tye and crew provide for the members.
    • Perlmonks has forced me to learn more in my six months of activity than I learned in 2 years of perl programming. In fact, it has forced me to relearn much of what I already knew, because my most basic assumptions were wrong.
    Comments on why you'll hate it, and how to make thing lovable :)
    • you'll get bothered from discussion that aren't strictly related to Perl ("Hey! We ain't MySQL-Monks, are we?"); I always find these questions interesting, and am sad when they're reaped or downvoted. Just because they don't directly apply to perl, doesn't mean that they cannot be helpful. I think reading good responses to these questions could teach many monks a lot about data structures, etc.... (as you said you learn something new even about arguments that are not strictly perl, but are related to it (e.g.: UNIX shells, Databases, network protocols, security...); ). The problem is finding that thin red line between especially OT, and helpfully OT. For the most part, the majority of OT posts in perlmonks are helpful, and I believe should be kept. If you really don't want to see OT questions just don't read them. (Possibly an OT flag people can mark when submitting a node, so that users who don't want to read OT questions can set a preference to not do so? I'd like that a lot...) This is an issue that I believe needs to be further discussed.
    • You'll get bored of replying to questions that are FAQs; Then don't answer those questions :) There are people who *will* answer them, even if you don't. Especially the Q&A editors. Plus, there aren't too many 'exactly the same' questions. I always look for a twist in the answers, and what I can learn from it.
    • You'll ask questions that are fundamental for you, hoping to get good advice from experienced perl programmers or perl book writers... and you'll get none; Come onto IRC, or ask on the chatterbox! Sometimes people gloss over your questions, or other times the answer is unknown. Give your node some publicity if you desire a quick or good answer :) (or if you're an XP whore...)


    What I feel perlmonks provides is a real life country club atmosphere, where all members are accessible to each other, whether they compete in real life, or have completely different stations. This allows those of us who are oblivious to the internals of perl to get advice from articulate, and friendly programmers, valued as the most proficient perl programmers alive. The atmosphere however is not conducive to 'practical' perl programmers, but to those of us who like to study the intricacies of the language, and hope to learn more, so that we may code with greater proficiency, as well as greater knowledge.

    The country club provides a great resource for those of us who want to get ahead in life, but don't think that because you caddy or learn from a perl guru that you're going to be working with them :) The informal perlmonks environment doesn't create these types of relationships alone, and users generally will have to venture onto IRC, or some other medium to do so. If you want people to work with you on your projects, cultivate a relationship with them, or look for somebody who has the free time to willingly do so. Help, with project specifics, on the other hand, is what perlmonks is here for.
    Gyan Kapur
    gyan.kapur@rhhllp.com
Re: Being a monk: why you'll love it, why you'll hate it
by zakzebrowski (Curate) on Oct 15, 2002 at 10:41 UTC
    ...I thought this was Mysql monks! :-)
    • ++ Good community -
    • ++ "CPAN new nodes" nodlet
    • ++ Perl
    • ++ Everyone who donates
    • -- Everyone who down grades my node (bwahahah)


    ----
    Zak
    Pluralitas non est ponenda sine neccesitate - mysql's philosphy

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