Regulars - what motivates you to answer questions here?

[Axr2]

A question for the "regulars" :
What motivates you to answer questions on this particular site, as against say the Oracle technical forums (metalink)? The quality of questions posed there are generally a tad better. Not as often do you see a "I can't read the manual" or "I don't want to read" or "I can't google/technet" type of questions.

Again, I'm not a regular there, nor am I an Oracle employee. I was on it today, and happened to notice some decent stuff - that's all.

Don't get me wrong - I've both benefitted from and contributed a little here. Obviously, it is a good thing that folks are willing to help out, no matter how mundane the question (or response). I'm just wondering about the motivation of folks with over a 1000 posts. What motivates you to answer questions like "fix my tnsnames.ora" "how do I perform a hot backup" etc? Quite remarkably, Tom still gets some of those on his site too!

Okay, back to work now..

[slimdave]

Boredom, and the delusion that someone might offer me a new job.

Personally I'm a real cherry-picker when it comes to answering questions -- most of them I'm just not interested in.

[Axr2]

Originally posted by slimdave
Boredom, and the delusion that someone might offer me a new job.

Man, you're brutally honest!

Personally, the reason I don't spend more time on the Oracle technical forums is - I hate the UI.

[DaPi]

For me it's a kind of gym where I get a workout. These are (usually) real-life problems which give me a chance to test my skills (if any).

The ones I like best are those that are at the limit of my capabilities - where I react with "I should know the answer to that!". Five minutes searching around perhaps fixes a problem and I've learned something - and Dave or Tamil will gently put me right if I stray (or pando will blast me out of the water, Jeff doesn't bother coz he only does ABW ).

P.S. agree about Meatlink

[gandolf989]

For me it helps me to test my skills. I'm in a job where they don't require all that much of me, and its nice to have a distraction when I need it. I'm not at 1,000 post yet, but I'm one closer now.

[Mr.Hanky]

When you have my amount of knowledge, tact, humanity, and overall concern for others it would be a crime to keep this all to myself.
I see myself as the forum humanitarian.

With Love, Peace, and Understanding.

MH

[marist89]

Mr. H's post breakdown:

Category                Count
----------------------- ------
Shoot the developers      1043
It's Friday                618
Use a parfile               43
Other                       19
                         -----
Total                     1723

[gandolf989]

Originally posted by Mr.Hanky
When you have my amount of knowledge, tact, humanity, and overall concern for others it would be a crime to keep this all to myself.
I see myself as the forum humanitarian.

With Love, Peace, and Understanding.

MH

Somethings are best kept to one's self.
You above all else should know that Mr. Hanky.

[marist89]

Originally posted by slimdave
Personally I'm a real cherry-picker when it comes to answering questions -- most of them I'm just not interested in.

Me too. I used to answer a bunch questions across the board, but now I pick and choose in areas I am interested in, areas I can make a unique contribution, or correcting something when it's obviously wrong. (I'll have to keep a closer eye on Dapi, though...)

[marist89]

Originally posted by gandolf989
For me it helps me to test my skills. I'm in a job where they don't require all that much of me, and its nice to have a distraction when I need it.

Admitting you have a problem is the first step!