JoeJester
Active Member
There is zero difference in what Destrom8 stated in his post and what ElectroMaster stated. Had Destrom8 quoted the sticky, we would not be having this discussion, even if one disagreed with that policy.
You can only cut so much slack. And in my experience of reading electronics related forums from NNTP newsgroups to the various germane forums that populate the net, there will always be some who are one and done. Visiting here, AAC, electronicspoint, and wherever else, some posting a question in hopes of satisfying their immediate need for an answer and not learning. I've decided many years ago the difference between the two. I've encouraged people to establish rules of the game ... the learning game ... vice the "answer game". Sometimes one will always post the answer, making them the "do homework for you" member.
Even when informed of the policy concerning the homework section, some may go to another area to "pose" that question under the guise of a project or general chat, but anyone who has read alot of homework questions, will see that for what it really is ... homework. I have no problems reporting what I see as homework to a moderator so the moderator can relocate it to the proper area.
Forums, for whatever topic, compete for one's most valuable asset, time. As such, they must be vibrant, and the user must want to vist and re-visit them. I once looked at a forum to categorize the memberships. Some are 1 and done posters, some lose interest after a period of time, some are lurkers, some are casual posters, some are active posters and some are hyperactive posters. These names can correlate with any subsection of the forum as well, however, the baseline data for the software here, and alot of other forums, includes, name, date joined, date last visited, and number of posts. That is the scant dataset available ... but not here at ETO because the owner doesn't show the "community members." You would have to look at each member individually vice a page of them.
Yes, those who want their homework done for them is a very small percentage, but their actions are well remembered because it created a memorable, abeit negative, first impression. Yes, the members could do that in the opposite direction as well, which is why I mentioned I would not respond and I will expect the moderators to inform the offenders of the forum rules.
ElectroMaster's sticky is clear.
The homework section is an unusual animal ... take the uA741 Op Amp. For the same reason you won't use it, the newbies do use it. This is because of their familiarity with the device. The schools still use it to illustrate the various parameters that are easily found by the newbies operating an oscilloscope, some for the very first time.
