[R] Web based R-help not a list

[Petr PIKAL]

> 
> > 
> > On Nov 9, 2011, at 5:38 PM, Cem Girit wrote:
> > 
> >> Hello,
> >> 
> >>                Is there a web version of this R-Help user group

<snip>

> > 
> > Yes. You were offered an option to get a digest when you signed up.
>     I'm not sure if this response answers the question. It seems to me 
that
> there is not an option to ask for help in R and get the answers to your
> questions interactively on a webpage without involving your email 
address.
> Unfortunately, I see this a lot with many computer based 
help/communities.
> What I sometimes do to cope is make a separate email address with google
> where I just add ".whatever" to the username part and subscribe with it.
> Then I bother to make a different user on my computer so I don't have to
> login and out of google on firefox to check it. It seems to me that this 
is
> bending over backwards instead of a more obvious solution, but it's the 
only
> solution I have found because the people who have helped me the most on 
this
> site don't seem to be any different than myself in terms of them being 
users
> like you and me without some sort of resource or credential or interest 
in
> making the more obviously useful help webpage that your email speaks 
clearly
> to me about. I mean, I write that email in my head every time I have a
> question in R and I think this is a very legitimate question.
> > 
> >> 
> >> 3.       I can arrange to receive only the responses to my posts
> >> automatically
> > 
> > Most people reply to both the poster and the the list, but there is no
> > enforcement mechanism. Your unwillingness to do any extra work to
> > educate yourself is duly noted.
>     This seems to be an offensive comment from one of the "Asperger's"
> people that the posting guide refers to. Your question is a good one. I
> think what R has going for it is that it is really convenient and that 
there
> are often very quick and easy answers if you can get to them. The idea 
that
> you should have to do extra work to answer simple questions is 
ludicrous,

There are really many possibilities to find answers. Some of them were 
shown in earlier posts. I work with R maybe more than 10 years and I still 
first try to search an answer by CRAN search options and use R-help only 
as a last resort. I sometimes manage to answer questions of others and 
more than often I just consult help page and recite part of it to the 
poster.

> and what's worse about the current system is that you also have to be
> exposed to people's negative attitudes such as the one just displayed.
> Unfortunately, I haven't seen any progress. All I can say is that if you 
can

I admit I do not know other help system than MS Windows and some other 
commercial programs. R seems to me far better because if you really are 
willing to learn it is extremely helpful to read answers from others. I 
sometimes check an answer to other question just because I want to see 
what is going on. And some answers are worth saving as they can be 
extremely helpful for further work.

Regards
Petr

> learn to ignore the emotional tolls that people like this charge, they 
can
> be helpful. I don't think we can ever teach them about the consequences 
of

<snip>


> 
> ______________________________________________
> R-help at r-project.org mailing list
> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help
> PLEASE do read the posting guide 
http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html
> and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.