From: Tim Kynerd Date: 2003-04-01T02:16:41+09:00 Subject: Re: Hard coded newline characters On Mon, 31 Mar 2003 16:00:29 +0000, Julian Snitow wrote: > Tim Kynerd wrote: >> On Mon, 31 Mar 2003 15:03:40 +0000, Julian Snitow wrote: >> >> >> -snip- >>>Ouch. >>>I'm sure antagonizing people will *really* make them want to help >>>you... >> >> >> I'm afraid I'm on David's side with this one. If I post here saying, "I >> need to do bla bla bla," I'm not helped by someone who posts back >> saying, "That's interesting, but I don't think it's necessary or >> worthwhile." If they don't understand why I need to do something and >> they want to know, they can ask rather than casting aspersions. >> >> Certainly it is often the case that there is a better way to do what >> someone thinks they want to do, especially if they are a beginner, as I >> still am with Ruby. But the way to handle that is to ask the question >> I've seen asked innumerable times in this and similar groups: "What is >> it you're trying to do, ultimately?" >> >> -rest snipped- >> >> > I can agree with that. The difference is that this was a request for > changes in the way ruby itself does things, in which case it is > incumbent upon the requestor to justify the proposed changes. > > Whether or not one is "in the right" is immaterial; belligerence rarely > inspires others to write code on one's behalf. I reread the original post and I cannot honestly see that the original poster was asking for this. The last sentence of that post is: "Any quick workaround that anyone can provide would be appreciated." That certainly isn't asking for changes in the way Ruby works. Nor can I find anything in the rest of the post that asks for that. There's a big difference between saying "I don't like the way Ruby works in this regard; is there a workaround?" and "I don't like the way Ruby works in this regard; [please] change it." Nor do I see anything wrong with responding to belligerence with belligerence. Given that initial response, I didn't see much reason to expect help from that particular quarter. -- Tim Kynerd Sundbyberg (sm�stan i storstan), Sweden tkynerd@spamcop.net Sunrise in Stockholm today: 6:22 Sunset in Stockholm today: 19:22 My rail transit photos at http://www.kynerd.nu