[R] Protocol for answering basic questions

[roger koenker]

Maybe it would be helpful to think of R-help as something more than
the Oracle of Delphi.  Questions, ideally, should  be framed in such a
way that they might lead to improvements in R:  extensions of the code
or, more frequently  clarifications or extensions of the documentation.
Indeed the R-help archive itself serves this function and could 
profitably
be searched prior  to firing off a question to R-help.  As traffic on 
R-help
increases there is a delicate balance that must be maintained in order
to keep knowledgeable users interested in the list.

url:	www.econ.uiuc.edu/~roger        	Roger Koenker
email	rkoenker at uiuc.edu			Department of Economics
vox: 	217-333-4558				University of Illinois
fax:   	217-244-6678				Champaign, IL 61820

On Dec 1, 2004, at 10:56 AM, James Foadi wrote:

> On Wednesday 01 Dec 2004 4:46 pm, Robert Brown FM CEFAS wrote:
>
>> Understandable but not a recipe to encourage the use of R by other 
>> than
>> experts. The R community needs to decide of they really only want 
>> expert
>> statisticians users and make this clear if it is the case.  
>> Alternatively
>> if they are to encourage novices the present approach is not the way 
>> to do
>> it.
>
> I perfectly agree with Robert Brown. Althogh I have been captivated by 
> "R",
> and will keep using it, I would appreciate if "R" gurus could make 
> this clear.
>
> Thanks
>
> James
> -- 
> Dr James Foadi
> Structural Biology Laboratory
> Department of Chemistry
> University of York
> YORK YO10 5YW
> UK
>
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