Useless whinging about rude/clueless requests for help...

I don't know why I let it annoy me, but it does. I regularly
get emails requesting help (some in a very demanding tone) from
people who are apparently utterly clueless and incompetent.
They're almost always from India, Korea, or occasionally
somewhere else in South/East Asia or even more occasionally
Eastern Europe.

The emails always read something like this:

Hi, I am <name here>,

I am working on project using <X cpu or Y board>. I have
<doubts|problems|confusion>. Plz help me. Plz send me
<code|step-by-step-instructions> urgently.

No problem description at all. It's not "I'm trying to do X
with Y, and when I to Z here's what happens and heres what I
expected/wanted to happen". These people seem to have
absolutely no idea where to start or what to do.

They apparently google a processor type or OS name and find my
name. Today's example: I spent a few weeks about 5 years ago
playing with Linux on an Intel IXP425 eval board. I apparently
posted a question about JFFS somewhere. Now I get an email
from some guy in India that says "I am trying to use IXP425 and
have problem. Plz help me."

Are these some sort of weird internet-scam/phishing
expeditions, or are they really embedded systems engineers and
students who know absolutely nothing about embedded systems and
even less about how/where to get technical information and
help?

Some of them have state quite clearly that they are design
engineers who have been assigned a project by their employers,
and yet they appear to have absolutely no idea what to do. So,
they send e-mails to almost randomly selected strangers asking
for step-by-step instructions on how to do their work.

Sometimes I ignore them, sometime I send a link to ESR's "How
To Ask Questions The Smart Way" page. Maybe I should send them
a consulting quote at $150 an hour, pre-pay only, paypal
accepted.

There. I know that's not going to change anything, but I feel
better.

--
Grant Edwards grante Yow! I will SHAVE and
at buy JELL-O and bring my
visi.com MARRIAGE MANUAL!!
.

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