[OSM-newbies] Non derivative work

[Steve Dobson]

All

Dave F. wrote:
> Newbies (in any walk of life) need clear concise information, not ill 
> informed guesses.

As a newbie to OSM I must concur.

There are many different types of newbie of course.  Some really do need 
to be lead carefully, others just need to be pointed in the right direction.

I joined this list to learn how to do things "properly" on OSM.  So in 
answering a question I think the most important thing is to point to 
examples that show good practices and follow the conventions.  How else 
are we newbies going to learn to do things right?  And doing things 
right in the first place saves so much time later on - for everyone.

An expert is not, IMO, someone who knows all the answers, (s)he is 
someone who knows how to find them out.  These days that means knowing 
what keywords to put into the search engines; where the best articles 
are on the Wiki; ...  The best expert is someone who can pass on the 
knowledge of finding answers in a friendly and inviting way.

I am sure we have all come across the postings that "just" say RTFM or 
STFW [1] and give no link.  How helpful is that?  It doesn't answer the 
question in hand or teach how to approach find the answer needed.

Newbies after all are not (in the most part) dumb!  They are just 
unknowledgable.  For OSM they are smart enough to figure out the value 
in contributing for the benefit of all.  That isn't dumb, far from it. 
Compare it with those that have said that Wikipedia is a broken model 
just because one or two articles have been hijacked.  Some people just 
don't get the power of collaboration.

Well I've vented now - I think I needed to and Dave's post was the spark 
I needed - sorry about that.  I think what I am really saying is to 
remember that newbies should be treated with a little respect.  That's 
what I hope I do in those forums where I am the "expert", and if I don't 
I'll apologizes for it now.

Steve

[1] Read The F**king Manual or Surf The F**king Website/Wiki.