But I'm not like that at all!

[merlyn]

One gets the mental picture of you being a very haughty person who doles out information when absolutely neccesary, and then it's always with the inflection of "why am I bothering with you?" Granted, I'm sure you're not like this, but this is the impression I've gotten from your participation on this site.

That's really not like I am in person. The people here who've met me in person will certainly tell you that.

I find it curious that you've gotten that impression, and wonder what it is about the medium or the mechanism that so alters how I come across so that you'd conclude that.

This is truly a quest for me. I'm looking at how online communities interact as part of a research project I'm on. That's probably why this personality voting thing has really got my goat, because it seems to be a flaw in an otherwise very useful system.

-- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker

[Ovid]

I can also attest to the fact that merlyn is not a haughty person. We've hung out before, with several other perlmonks, and he was pretty easy-going. That being said, when he did talk about other programmers and some of his students, I perceived a great frustration level with people who simply refuse to (or can't) pay attention.

I've personally noticed that I am getting a bit more sarcastic in some of my posts. Usually, this occurs when someone says something like "why won't my script works? It only prints 5." Then, they expect some sort of answer. I try not to be too terribly rude, but sometimes, the idiocy of some questions gets to me. I'm also getting a bit tired of "how do I tell if two variables are the same" type questions. I usually try to be helpful and answer things like that, but I can see how someone can program in a language for many, many years and get tired of basic questions being asked repeatedly.

That being said, I've also asked some pretty basic questions, so I try to be helpful. I know what it's like to be a newbie -- especially since I'm really not that far beyond it.

Here's my a way I've thought of explaining it:

Imagine that you're a math tutor. Students keep coming to you and asking they keep getting an average of 8 for the numbers 5, 7, and 13. In checking their work you discover they added wrong and you suggest they double-check their numbers. You don't give them an answer, you simply point them to an answer. After a while, you're going to get pretty tired of seeing these students adding wrong and some of the students are going to be pretty tired of you just not giving a direct answer.

Cheers,
Ovid

Update: One more thought: I've met a few monks who have been rather surprised to discover than my online persona and my real-life behavior are not necessarily synonymous. In real life, as online, I tend to be polite (and wordy), but if you get me riled up, I have a tongue that can clip a hedge.

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[KM]

That's really not like I am in person. The people here who've met me in person will certainly tell you that.

I can attest to that. I have hung out with Randal in conference settings, business settings and personal settings. Randal is a cool guy, fun to hang out with, good to have conversation with, and fun watching him charge a single piece of pie!

I think your impression of his is incorrect. He truely does like to help people and help people become better Perl programmers. Unfortunately, tone of voice, intentions, etc... don't come across in a textual world. But, I can attest that the following statement is not a true reflection of Randal (at least from my experiences with him over the last few years):

One gets the mental picture of you being a very haughty person who doles out information when absolutely neccesary, and then it's always with the inflection of "why am I bothering with you?"

Cheers,
KM

[merlyn]

Did I tell you about the time that I charged a 39-cent Big Gulp at a 7-11? (Some years ago, obviously.)

And the guy hadn't ever done it, so he pulls out the old credit card imprint machine, and nearly puts a "REFUND" slip in the machine instead of a normal slip! I would have been paid 39 cents on my card to drink the gulp!

Of course I stopped him. But I think that sets the record for minimum charge on any of my cards.

-- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker

[Guildenstern]

I did say that I was sure merlyn was not like that in real life. What I was saying is that consideration needs to be taken when writing to help ensure that what is written in the "textual world" doesn't come across wrong. Quite often it seems like merlyn would benefit from putting himself in the questioner's shoes. An answer to an experienced Perl programmer can be more terse, but a newbie would benefit far more from a detailed explanation.

Guildenstern
Negaterd character class uber alles!

[KM]

I know we have gone over this all before, and merlyn has been 'attacked' for his answers before. Let's try not to repeat it.

An answer to an experienced Perl programmer can be more terse, but a newbie would benefit far more from a detailed explanation.

Why are you now splitting how he (or anyone) should answer? It takes enough time to answer, and now someone should evaluate the questioners experience before answering? How do you know what someone will benefit from? I don't always think that a long detailed answer is best for a newbie. Why? Because teaching them how to teach themselves can be more valuable that showing them the answer. Why are you picking on merlyn for this? Do you read others answers on this site? The range from "perldoc something" to long, overly detailed explinations. Everyone has their own style, which may change daily or hourly depending on mood or how busy one is. The important thing is that people participate. If you don't like someone short, terse answer.. noone is stopping you from expounding on it.

Cheers,
KM