Re: Search StackOverflow and paste code snippets without leaving the edited file

[Emanuel Berg]

Marcin Borkowski <mbork@wmi.amu.edu.pl> writes:

> None of these ("artificial perfection", "one and only
> one correct answer" etc.) are commonly observed on
> TeX.SE.

It is very interesting that you mention this because
this is *exactly* me experience, and I have actually
written about that in this group when this was
discussed perhaps a year ago.

Though I can't see the difference (I did lots of LaTeX
a while back, while doing programming at the same time)
- it must be something with the nature of that work
(publishing and typesetting) that don't produce as much
frustration as does programming.

> Disagreed.  Then, why do we teach algebra,
> combinatorics, analysis and set theory as different
> subjects at the university?  Answer: this is
> technically easier, and some people just like
> algebra/analysis/whatnot more.

The university analogy is correct in the sense that is
a way to do it, and it works. However, if you ask the
math teacher in algebra class a calculus question, what
will happen is most probably [s]he will answer that
question to the best of her/his ability. If not
possible, [s]he will explain how that is another field
and make a mental note to later contemplate how that
off-topic (or was it?) question popped up, and decide
perhaps it relates somehow, in which case [s]he should
go to the library and try to assemble a rudimentary
answer for next time. What will most definitely *not*
happen is that the teacher will bark "that's not what
we do here" and the rest of the class will give her/him
a standing ovation.

As for the sites, I agree the division is a practical
thing. However, the practical thing should never be an
obstacle, because then it is not practical anymore, is
it? On the SX sites, I don't think the practical
solution is an obstacle exclusively in-itself, in fact,
I think it makes sense on the blueprint, only when
(some) people use those sites, they run into dead ends,
and when they do, on those sites it is very difficult to
express anything other than "questions and answers",
and this is why to me it sure looks like when they are
angry at newcomers and bubble haughtily about the nature
of their sites, the tone of that tells me that they are
actually frustrated about other things completely. You
probably think I'm an amateur psychologist now but
that's how it looks to me.

But there are other reasons I like Usenet more. One is
the common interface for everything. Another reason is
the text-only style. Take a look below. I don't think
you will ever have the like on a "Q&A" site. And, there
are questions and answers here, too. Why not have it
all, and programmable at that, when it is so easy to
have?

http://www.google.com/googlegroups/archive_announce_20.html

> And, there are i.e. some Ubuntu-specific questions,
> completely unrelated to, say, Gentoo or programming
> in general.

Yes, there are such cases but there are as many cases
where things are not as easily isolated from each
other. I think it is much better to just give it your
all, and not bicker about such things.

-- 
underground experts united:
http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573