-There can be times when it is useful to compare ourselves with other coders. Sometimes we can learn about new technologies or new methodologies by looking at the work of others. But it's very easy to fall into the trap of thinking that because we're not at the level of other coders that we're somehow inferior to them. Rather than looking at other coders as competition we should look at them as companions. We're all in this profession working to make our respective projects better. With Open Source / Free Software we have a unique opportunity to be able to look at how other folks do their work in public. We can learn from the code of others much in the same way that scientists can look at the papers of other scientists to see what worked (by replication and repetition). No coder is completely isolated from the work of others. Rare is the programmer that achieved everything they achieved without looking at the work of others to help their own coding efforts. We all learn from each other. But rather than be intimidated by the work of others we can instead take it apart and learn from it. And if we're lucky we can have the opportunity to ask others about how the code works and why they chose to do it that way.
+There are times when it is useful to compare ourselves with other programmers. Sometimes we can learn about new technologies or new methodologies by looking at the work of others, but it's easy to fall into the trap of thinking that because we're not at the level of other programmers we're somehow inferior to them. Rather than looking at other programmers as competition we should look at them as companions. We're all in this profession working to make our respective projects better. With Free and Open Source Software we have a unique opportunity to see how other folks do their work in public. We can learn from the code of others much in the same way that scientists can look at the papers of other scientists to see what worked (and can improve the validity of the paper with replication and repetition). No coder is completely isolated from the work of others. (It's a rare programmer that has coded their entire programming environment from scratch without the work of others.) We all learn from each other, but rather than be intimidated by the work of others we can instead take it apart and learn from it. If we're lucky we can take the opportunity to ask them how the code works and why they chose to write the code in that way.
+
+There's value in asking questions of our fellow programmers. We tend to overlook asking questions for fear that we're going to ask something obvious or ask a question that will make us feel inadequate for asking. Asking questions is very useful when we don't understand what is going on with an idea or a particular piece of code. There are programmers out there who don't mind answering questions, and my hope is that you find them. Granted there are some programmers who are very busy and might not have the time or inclination to answer questions, but if we are truly stuck and have exhausted all other avenues perhaps we can ask questions of them that don't require much of their time and effort. They may even be grateful for the question because it gives them insights into a perspective they might not otherwise have. When we ask questions we initiate a sharing of ideas in both directions.
+
+There is an art to asking questions and it can be frustrating when folks don't answer our questions or come back with other questions and suggestions that are less than helpful. This manifests itself in exchanges where person A asks: "I'd like to know how to do X" and persons B and C respond "I would do Y instead". It's frustrating when folks won't answer our questions directly. It's also easy to get embroiled in exchanges with folks about the merits of doing Y where Y was suggested by someone else that has nothing to do with the original question about X. But if we re-frame the experience as "this person is trying to help me; perhaps there is something in this recommendation that might be helpful" then we can have a better conversation. Perhaps what we're asking isn't the best way to do something and pausing to listen may help us better understand why they suggested what they did.
+
+Pulling our egos out of the question allows us to be more open to the answers we receive. When people don't understand our question it becomes easy to take it personally and frame it as "they're not understanding me" or "they're not listening to me". Pulling ourselves out of the question allows us to take the merits of the answer provided "as-is" and gives us the ability to change the question as needed to get better answers.
+
+Of course there are folks who won't respond with your best interests at heart and are only interested in imposing their own world-view upon you. Instead of answering your question they question why you're doing that at all and suggest that you should be using their methodology instead. It can take a lot of energy to engage with these folks to tell them "no, I really, really intended to learn more about X." I wish I had good answers for how to handle these folks. There are plenty of them that feel that whatever they're doing is the only right path and those that stray from their chosen path are anathema to their world. My best suggestion is to thank them for their time and ask someone else for help. Perhaps they may be useful in the future when you have questions about whatever is part of their agenda, but for now be as kind as possible and wish them well on their programming journey. Technology spaces have a lot of folks who have been working with computers for a long time and have formed strong opinions about their tools and technologies. My hope is that you can find the ones that are also kind and willing to share what they know and not badger you with their strongly held beliefs. Over time you too will form your own beliefs on what works and what doesn't work and pass that knowledge on to others. Recognizing folks who are there to help educate and those who are there to proselytize is part of our growth process.
+
+If we look at other programmers as our traveling companions on this journey; as peers in our coding practice, then we can realize that we're all in this together. Even someone with many more years of experience than you have is your peer. You have knowledge and experience they won't have, and they have experience and knowledge you don't have. If we strip away the barriers of perceived rank and meritocracy we can better engage with and learn from each other.