Moogie
05-24-2002, 02:14 PM
Ever meet anyone like this? I always thought and expert was a former drip under pressure. :)
Click here or see below (http://www.linuxmuse.com/articles.php?action=section&article=10&num=1)
There's Always an Expert to Spoil Your Day
By: Greg on 2002-04-14 19:02:52
Section 1 - A Pseudo Expert, that is.
The online community can be an excellent resource for information on just about anything you could ever want to know. The web is jam-packed with a plethora of sites on gardening, running a webserver, Judo, or even Battle Klondike. You name it, and there's a site that specializes in it.
The web is also crammed with messageboards on every subject imaginable. You'll find people who can help with specific questions, and a place to rant about whatever you wish to a real live audience. And you'll also find Pseudo Experts.
They lurk among the crowd of newbies and gurus who populate nearly every board. And they are ready to be your authoritative source of nonsense. Who needs misinformation when you have Pseudo Experts to spout off buzzword-filled drivel designed to confuse the newbie and give the appearance of knowledge.
I'm convinced they are more dangerous to a newbie in certain situations than just about anyone else. The situation that brought about this rant is one where a Pseudo Expert could be very dangerous.
I've been a professional lurker at a messageboard that will remain nameless. This board specializes in support for the newbie systems administrator. Specifically, the poor soul who gets to keep public internet servers alive and secure, while losing sanity and sleep in the process. This same board has a much higher number of Pseudo experts then any previous board I've encountered.
It becomes even more "fun" when hapless newbies innocently spout advice to their peers. Advice gleaned from Pseudo experts, I mean. Soon the board is filled with Second generation nonsense repeated verbatim. It can get really scary. A recent discussion on reverse DNS contained a shocking amount of mis-information.
Newbie1 is very agitated because his mail is being bounced by certain ISPs because his IP doesn't resolve to a name. Most likely, whomever owns the IP, in this case $ISP, has not entered a PTR record for it. MeToo responds saying he has the same problem. Pow! In enters a Pseudo Expert, to save the day. PseudoExpert1 claims the problem is due to Newbie1 running his own DNS servers and not relying on the DNS servers from $ISP. PseudoExpert1: "You can't have Reverse Lookup when you use BIND, you need to run on the $ISP's nameservers!" Newbie3 chimes in, "Yep, PseudoExpert1 is right!"
The situation deteriorates and nobody solves anything. But the Pseudo Experts are always the heroes. They are worshiped in a eerily religious manner by the board's permanent newbies, and they are always ready lend a hand. Or is that ruin your day?
Click here or see below (http://www.linuxmuse.com/articles.php?action=section&article=10&num=1)
There's Always an Expert to Spoil Your Day
By: Greg on 2002-04-14 19:02:52
Section 1 - A Pseudo Expert, that is.
The online community can be an excellent resource for information on just about anything you could ever want to know. The web is jam-packed with a plethora of sites on gardening, running a webserver, Judo, or even Battle Klondike. You name it, and there's a site that specializes in it.
The web is also crammed with messageboards on every subject imaginable. You'll find people who can help with specific questions, and a place to rant about whatever you wish to a real live audience. And you'll also find Pseudo Experts.
They lurk among the crowd of newbies and gurus who populate nearly every board. And they are ready to be your authoritative source of nonsense. Who needs misinformation when you have Pseudo Experts to spout off buzzword-filled drivel designed to confuse the newbie and give the appearance of knowledge.
I'm convinced they are more dangerous to a newbie in certain situations than just about anyone else. The situation that brought about this rant is one where a Pseudo Expert could be very dangerous.
I've been a professional lurker at a messageboard that will remain nameless. This board specializes in support for the newbie systems administrator. Specifically, the poor soul who gets to keep public internet servers alive and secure, while losing sanity and sleep in the process. This same board has a much higher number of Pseudo experts then any previous board I've encountered.
It becomes even more "fun" when hapless newbies innocently spout advice to their peers. Advice gleaned from Pseudo experts, I mean. Soon the board is filled with Second generation nonsense repeated verbatim. It can get really scary. A recent discussion on reverse DNS contained a shocking amount of mis-information.
Newbie1 is very agitated because his mail is being bounced by certain ISPs because his IP doesn't resolve to a name. Most likely, whomever owns the IP, in this case $ISP, has not entered a PTR record for it. MeToo responds saying he has the same problem. Pow! In enters a Pseudo Expert, to save the day. PseudoExpert1 claims the problem is due to Newbie1 running his own DNS servers and not relying on the DNS servers from $ISP. PseudoExpert1: "You can't have Reverse Lookup when you use BIND, you need to run on the $ISP's nameservers!" Newbie3 chimes in, "Yep, PseudoExpert1 is right!"
The situation deteriorates and nobody solves anything. But the Pseudo Experts are always the heroes. They are worshiped in a eerily religious manner by the board's permanent newbies, and they are always ready lend a hand. Or is that ruin your day?