F8 is a problem

[Frank Cox]

On Sun, 20 Jan 2008 13:21:11 -0700
Karl Larsen <k5di at zianet.com> wrote:

> I am supposed to KNOW this somehow. 

It's called doing your own research and thinking, Karl.

Nobody ever told me how to install Livna.  I ran across a few mentions of it
way-back-when, did a few Google searches, read a web page or two, and started
using Livna.

There is an implicit assumption that you should do as much research as you can
on your own before jumping up and asking questions on a mailing list like this.

Nobody is here to hold your and and baby you through any procedure.

Do some independent research (Google is very useful for this) and do some
reading.  Ask for clarifications, but only AFTER you have done this,  and only
if you have further questions that are not addressed by your previous reading.

A lot (most, almost all) of your questions could be answered by you, yourself,
independently, if you just do some research.

You have an odd compulsion to continually remind us that you have a Ph.D.  Karl,
one of the things that you learn, the main thing that you learn, when you study
for a Ph.D. is how to conduct independent research.  That's the point of a Ph.D.
degree!

Have you really forgotten everything that you ever knew about how to conduct
research and how to do independent learning?  If so, then I truly feel sorry
for you; it must be a terrible feeling to lose one's faculties like that and I
hope I never find myself in that sort of a situation.

On the other hand, if you do still remember what you learned back in the "old
days at school", now is the time to apply those lessons.  Do independent
research, do some reading, do some thinking and try things out when you have an
understanding of how they work.  Don't just blindly jump off of cliffs and hope
for a soft landing at the bottom -- when you don't understand enough about how
something works to know what the possible consequences are, then DON'T DO IT
until after you have done the research required.

Think, Karl.  Do the work.  Do the research.  Do what it takes.  Then, after
you have done all of that and have reached a situation where you still have
some doubt, you can ask questions that are both intelligent and worth someone
else's time to answer for you.

"It broke.  Fix it for me, mommy."  That might work and may even be reasonable
when you're two years old, Karl, but not now.

-- 
MELVILLE THEATRE ~ Melville Sask ~ http://www.melvilletheatre.com