Ask question the smart way

Excerpt from E. S. Raymond's website http://www.catb.org/esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

1. Hackers like challenging, thought-provoking questions
2. People unwilling to think or do their homework are time sinks. They take without giving back.
3. Different people have different important things to do. We focus on what interests us most, otherwise we would become less effective  at the things we do best.
4. We filter the time-sinker ruthlessly, in particularly who appear to be losers. If you can't live with this discrimination, you 'd better pay for a paid support instead of asking hacker to donate help.
5. Before asking a technical question, do your homework by searching the web, reading the manual or FAQ, asking a skilled friend or find a answer by reading source code. Display the fact that you have done these things first.

• How to become a hacker

1. Hackers build things, crackers break them.
2. The fun of being a hacker takes lots of effort and motivation. Otherwise, your hacking energy is sapped by distractions like sex, money, and social approval.
3. There are so many fascinating new problems waiting out there, we shouldn't waste time re-invent the wheel.
4. Attitude is a must, but is no substitute for competence. Competence at demanding skills that involve mental acuteness, craft, and concentration is best.
5. First learn Python, then C, Perl and Lisp. Java is not recommended as first language. Because a good tool for production can be a bad one for learning. However, C is low-level language that is complex and bug-prone. We had better use machine time less efficiently but use our time more efficiently. 
6. Most of the best hackers are self-taught and learn by practice. (a) reading code; (b) writing code.
7. The best way to do it is to read some stuff written by masters of the form, write some things yourself, read a lot more, write a little more, read a lot more, write some more ...