I just discovered another of Paul's domains, sscce.org.
It appears to be a problem-solving and error-correction process for coding.
I kinda want to see a version of it made for permaculture. Does such a thing already exist on permies.com?
I like the idea at the end where, if someone who talks about a problem shows that they have done the work to understand the problem, see if the problems is already being addressed somewhere, and distilled the problem to its most essential relevant parts, then people are way more likely to feel inclined to help.
From sscce.org:
Why bother?
A very good question. Why go to all this effort?
Perhaps someone can understand the problem you describe from the description you give. Maybe it is one of those things that a thousand people before have stumbled on.
If you have already checked the FAQ, Googled the forum, read the ..flaming manual it is unlikely that an answer will pop up that easily. You have done those things, haven't you?
If wasting the time and bandwidth of the other members of a public forum, you risk members of the group delivering short sharp rebukes.
The people who contribute to the groups give a wide range of advice. Sometimes the advice works, sometimes it does not, but either way, the advice is free.
Contributors do so for a variety of reasons, including the nice feeling they get when they can pass on a piece of knowledge relating to their chosen field to someone who is learning.
Unfortunately, if someone asks to be spoon fed information that is contained in a basic tutorial, it is a strong indication that the questioner does not so much want to learn as get others to do work they should be doing themselves.
If there is a piece of code and you wish to have it written, finished or fixed by others, there are plenty of avenues to achieve that. For a modest amount of money, you can get most IT work completed (or done) through a number of internet based outsourcing companies. That is what such companies specialize in.
Free forums are for people to learn.
Having said that:
Let us assume you are indeed genuine in your learning, you have a huge, complex system with an occasional, unpredictable bug, and you have searched the FAQ & Group, studied the manual or documentation and not produced an answer.
Feel free to describe the problem to the group; perhaps it is a basic misunderstanding on your part that can easily be cleared up.
We are not proposing that every single problem needs a SSCCE in order to be solved. We are also not suggesting an example is, or should be, compulsory.
It will, however, make people much more likely to help, and will therefore increase the chance of finding a solution.
1
