Forum Burnout

[BigDave]

OMG, I think I'm having forum burnout. Is it me or are people getting lazier than normal. No one seems to search for their problem and just posts the same question over and over again without any research. I'm getting burned out.

The thing is, I like helping people out but there are folks that don't even pay attention to minimal setups of FreeNAS and then have all these problems or folks complain about FreeNAS and having us troubleshoot their hardware issues.
<clip>
I'm done complaining for now. I'm sure there are others that feel similar.

I feel this way from time to time, even at the much lower level
of participation that I have time for.
I take mini breaks away from here from time to time, some days I take a peak
and never log in at all. Everyone needs a break, that's why we have holidays,
vacations, siestas, etc. We are not like the computers we work with, we don't
function well 24/7-365. Our brains must have down time. Mark, you just need
a forum vacation:)

 

[HoneyBadger]

Meh, maybe I will start posting really stupid (like more than normal) answers just to keep you all on your toes...

I will cut you.

ahem

I mean, I take umbrage to that idea.

 

[anodos]

I've taken a more egoist approach to the forums by only replying to posts that are for some reason interesting. Otherwise it's too repetitive. Let fresh blood take care of the really low-hanging fruit.

 

[HoneyBadger]

Let fresh blood take care of the really low-hanging fruit.

As long as said newcomers are propagating correct information this works well; however, there's a risk of someone "knowing just enough to be dangerous" and giving wrong advice.

 

[anodos]

As long as said newcomers are propagating correct information this works well; however, there's a risk of someone "knowing just enough to be dangerous" and giving wrong advice.

:D

 

[Ericloewe]

I'll share my thoughts on the matter:

I haven't perceived any real degradation in quality of users who ask questions. What I mean by this, is that even if some fundamental knowledge is lacking, the "You're all a bunch of pricks for not helping me out with my ancient Pentium 4 with awesome 512MB of Rambus RAM!" attitude feels less prevalent.

We can fix lack of knowledge, but we can't fix attitude. As certain questions become more repetitive, we can improve the canned content available (formerly stickies, now we have the resources section and the wiki).

As for the unwillingness to do some prior research, I can understand how a new user might feel - there's a crapton of information out there in the forum, but it's spread around, fragmented and disjointed. Sometimes, an issue is discussed over 10 pages of a thread, which makes for an overwhelming read. We probably need to find ways to make canned content more attractive for new users. This will probably involve migrating existing materials over to the wiki or the resources section.

As for "many of the regulars being MIA", that has another explanation.

In my case, it's just a mixture of unrelated causes that creates an environment that drags me away from the forum long enough to keep me from being invested in a long Q&A session many threads long.

I think a revised hardware thread might help with some info on hardware generations as so many think they can just use the old box collecting dust in the closet for the past 5 years.

The current hardware sticky should be enough to dispel that myth, but it does require an update. I'm working on a new one, for the wiki, but there's a lot of ground to cover (surprisingly, I managed to write quite a bit the other day during a few flights, but I was a bit limited by the lack of an internet connection - there are a lot of details, like model numbers, that I don't know off the top of my head).
As soon as I have a first complete draft I'll post it on the wiki, and I'd appreciate all help available to spot any errors and help format things (I'm a MediaWiki noob). Hopefully that'll be in the next few days.

I agree with you. I know a lot of the newer people don't even know how to use SSH and putty, or how to even view log files in BSD.

Now that I think about, that merits some sort of guide, too. It's easy, but not intuitive to anyone who is used to GUI Windows or (*shudder*) iOS/Android.

 

[Ericloewe]

As long as said newcomers are propagating correct information this works well; however, there's a risk of someone "knowing just enough to be dangerous" and giving wrong advice.

That's where the guy with 8k posts and 1k likes barges in to correct any mistakes in a very terse tone that will have all participants wondering how angry he really is, hopefully intimidating everyone into not spreading that particular piece of disinformation again. :p

 

[joeschmuck]

'm working on a new one, for the wiki, but there's a lot of ground to cover (surprisingly, I managed to write quite a bit the other day during a few flights, but I was a bit limited by the lack of an internet connection - there are a lot of details, like model numbers, that I don't know off the top of my head).
As soon as I have a first complete draft I'll post it on the wiki, and I'd appreciate all help available to spot any errors and help format things (I'm a MediaWiki noob). Hopefully that'll be in the next few days.

Looking forward to reading it.

 

[MatthewSteinhoff]

1. People come to the forums looking for expert advice.
2. Experts give expert advice.
3. People complain about expert advice.
4. Experts heads exploded, get burned out.

Well, that, and I imagine people were vacationing over the summer. Also, Pokémon GO is pretty time-intensive.

Cheers,
Matt

 

[Mirfster]

Experts heads exploded, get burned out.

Nah, "I make a 360 degrees turn and walk away"... :P

 

[Spearfoot]

4. Experts heads exploded, get burned out.

...or they just do this (hat tip to @HoneyBadger):

 

[mattbbpl]

Now that I think about, that merits some sort of guide, too. It's easy, but not intuitive to anyone who is used to GUI Windows or (*shudder*) iOS/Android.

OMG, yes. Figuring out where to find pertinent logs on an unfamiliar OS can be quite daunting to newcomers. The Putty/SSH stuff is more readily available, but I suppose it could be a welcome addition as well. At any rate, it would "fit" into the log guide as it serves as a mechanism to access them.

 

[fta]

I feel a compulsive need to answer posts.
I'm annoyed that I have to answer posts.
Story at 11.