Okay, but I've been in plenty of conversations where I ask "I read in a book that we should be doing X, how are people doing X?"[1], and the answers I got, _from a community that included the book author_, were "first, make sure you're doing A, B and C."[2] When in fact I am doing that already. Do I have to really preface every question with "i promise i'm not the idiot you assume I am?"
1: "This book says to monitor ML systems for distribution shifts; what tools are people using to store that data and monitor for changes?"
2: "Make sure you're monitoring normal SRE statistics like request failure rate"
> Do I have to really preface every question with "i promise i'm not the idiot you assume I am?"
Yes, first of all I do think it's up to the person looking for help to fully elaborate their situation in such a way that makes it clear why the X/Y problem doesn't apply to them, since other people with similar issues who stumble upon your thread might not realize that you have that additional context, and the answer is just as much for them as it is for you (if not moreso, since you're just one person).
Secondly, even if you did fully elaborate your situation, it may be that there are people interested in trying to help who don't know the answer to X but do know the answer to Y, and by answering Y they are still providing more value than not answering at all. There's nothing about answering Y that prevents X from being answered by someone else.
> other people with similar issues who stumble upon your thread might not realize that you have that additional context, and the answer is just as much for them as it is for you
IMO, this is what books are for: advice for some form of large common denominators. And if I cite a book, I think it's fair game to assume I am familiar with its contents. And if you encounter my question and haven't read the book, I would hope you benefit just by knowing it exists and maybe even read it.
> Secondly, even if you did fully elaborate your situation, it may be that there are people interested in trying to help who don't know the answer to X but do know the answer to Y, and by answering Y they are still providing more value than not answering at all.
I mean, the longer a thread on slack is, the fewer people bother reading it all. And I have to read it as well before I know it's not actually helping me.
1: "This book says to monitor ML systems for distribution shifts; what tools are people using to store that data and monitor for changes?" 2: "Make sure you're monitoring normal SRE statistics like request failure rate"