by It’s often challenging to find answers for the problems that plague you — and it’s even worse when the folk that you try to ask are frustrated and confused by how you’re trying to ask, or simply ignore you completely!
There have been tons of good things written about how to ask questions in a way that gets answers (and how to find answers, or at least things to try before asking).
One of the best articles that I know is Merlin Mann’s “Solve problems by writing a note to yourself”. Merlin makes the very sensible point that writing things down helps you to understand the problem you’re trying to solve — and also means that you’ve got all of the information about what you’ve tried, what you’ve found out, what results you’ve gotten et al handy, if you do end up needing to ask somebody else.
Eric Raymond’s How to ask questions the smart way is another article that people often point to — and Eric, like Merlin makes the point that you’re trying to get answers out of busy, often impatient people, and if you can’t come up with a coherent question, you’re more likely to get ignored or flamed.
The quick summary for folk that can’t be bothered to read the links above:
Be polite, succinct, and informative. Don’t demand or presume entitlement.
Before you ask anybody/post to a list/write into IRC:
(1) Write down the problem you’re trying to solve (eg: “I can’t water my garden”)
(2) Write down the things you’re tried doing to solve the problem (eg: “I did a search on “can’t water the garden”, and found information on drought, city bylaws, and leaking hoses”)
(3) Describe your environment (eg: “I live in a 50th floor apartment, and my garden is on the kitchen counter”)
(a) For bonus points, if you have a network related problem or information flowing between different points, draw a diagram, and post it somewhere the people you intend to ask can see (images are good). If you have relevant logs or configurations, use a Pastebot.