Microsoft KB article on how to ask a question

[pne]

For those of you with more time, compare and contrast the Microsoft article with "How to Report Bugs Effectively" by simont and "How To Ask Questions The Smart Way" by ESR.

Comments

[darth-spacey.livejournal.com]

Note that the two documents are about different subjects. One is about help requests, and one is about bug reports.

The MS article actually scans a lot like the famous ESR essay "How To Ask Questions The Smart Way": http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html -- so much so, in fact that I suspect MS have gone in for a bit of "Open Source Documentation". It's fair play by ESR, and does make the Internet a better place, but I couldn't suppress a chuckle when I noticed.

[pne.livejournal.com]

Ah, I probably had the wrong comparison document in my mind. You're right.

(I guess what brought to mind the the bug report comparison was the advice to describe what it is you did, what you attempted to accomplish, and what actually happened.)