[pracjourn-forum] Re: a weird error

[Peter Flom]

Ch wrote   (BTW, what does Ch stand for?)
<<<<
So, I guess the moral is:
   when reporting a problem, you have to specify what you're actually
   using to read and process a file: plain TeX, LaTeX, pdfTeX,
pdfLaTeX
   ... and there may well be others. 
>>>

For one, there's pdfTeXify (in ProText)

<<<
 I'm enjoying your messages because you're doing a good job of
 reminding us all that being a new TeX user is pretty much as
 perplexing now as it was when we were the new users. Indeed, in some
 ways it more complex in that there are more variables/options at each
 stage, each of which has its own significance. 
> >>>

Indeed.  And it is so easy for people who are used to doing something
to forget how they felt as newbies, and what they needed to learn.  I
find it kind of fun to be the newby here, especially as you all have
been not only helpful, but welcoming.


> So perhaps what one needs initially is some kind of checklist of
> details which should be part of any query, so that there isn't this
> `Oh, I didn't know you needed to know _that_!' cycle ... where the
> experienced users get all hoity-toity and the new user feels like
> they've just been squashed for asking a simple question. 
> 

I emphatically agree.  On some mailing lists, the attitude seems to be
that the absolute minimal amount of help should be provided, and that
snideness is a sign of expertise.  To me, snideness is a sign of being a
insecure jerk - there's a saying I've heard "You don't make yourself
taller by putting someone else in a hole".  


Peter