mysql solution

[Chris Angelico]

On Fri, Jan 25, 2013 at 12:31 AM, Ferrous Cranus <nikos.gr33k at gmail.com> wrote:
> Τη Πέμπτη, 24 Ιανουαρίου 2013 1:16:51 μ.μ. UTC+2, ο χρήστης Chris Angelico έγραψε:
>> Glad you've listened to at least some of what you've been told. But if
>> you want to be taken seriously on this list, I recommend going back to
>> your previous name of Νικόλαος Κούρας (which Google Translate tells me
>> transliterates as Nicholas Kouri), apologizing for trolling, and being
>> VERY careful to be respectful. I suspect a number of the list's best
>> posters have already killfiled you.
>
> First of all i'am not trolling, it looks like i'am trolling because i persist "on my way" of handling a problem.

Then why do you use, as your name, something which everyone who tries
a quick web search will see is the name of a category of troll? And,
what's more, a category which clearly includes you?

Python believes in "duck typing". Instead of writing a function that
expects a File object, Python tends toward writing functions that
expect an object that can be given data to write() out. Or, instead of
looking for an integer, Python code will look for "something that can
be added to 5". In the same way, we on this list do not ask "are you a
troll". We ask "does your behaviour match that of a troll". You are
treated as a troll because you act like one.

> Secondly, why go back to that handle?

That said, though, carrying the name of a troll doesn't help. Using
your real name is the best way to get started. If you want to win
respect, you want to win it for yourself, not for some strange title.
(There are exceptions to that principle. Some people on the list don't
use their names, and I'm on another list where one of the regular
posters freely admits that the name "John Spartan" isn't actually his.
But in general, you should use your real name.)

Among geeks (and this list/newsgroup is full of them), respect is
everything. You earn it, you give it. The best ways to earn respect
are to give respect and to contribute to the community. Contributing
is fairly obvious; answering questions, helping out, submitting
patches, triaging bugs, reviewing and confirming bug reports. Stuff
that takes time and benefits other people. The "top dogs" in a geeky
community are usually the ones who give the most time. I've no idea
how many hours Guido puts into Python, but it'll be rather a lot.

Giving respect is a little harder to define, but just as important.
The main thing to remember is that we, here, helping you, are
volunteers. Nobody is paying us to solve your problems, especially not
you yourself. Demanding that we solve your problems is NOT respectful.
Offering us interesting problems (which we enjoy), following up
courteously, helping to maintain the community's standards (even in
supposedly-trivial matters like bottom-posting), and doing your own
work before asking for help, ARE. I recently dropped someone a private
note thanking him for the way he phrased his question, because it made
for a very interesting little puzzle, and he'd clearly put work into
it. It was a pleasure to help him, cliche though that sound. He was
respectful of the time people would put in, and afterward of the time
they had put in, and thus he won respect.

Ferrous/Nicholas, you are currently looking like that very worst thing
on a mailing list: an open-ended time sink. You are looking like
you'll cost huge numbers of smart-person-hours (that's like man-hours
but not gender specific, or like programmer-hours but less mythical)
with little or no benefit to the community. Continue down this path
and you will find yourself with nobody to talk to, as everyone will
decide that the best use of time is to delete your posts unread.

ChrisA