One of the more popular parts of the SQLServerCentral site is the discussion forum area where thousands of people ask questions and get answers every day. We host a variety of forums that have proven to be a great resource for many SQL Server professionals over the years. I constantly hear from people that have posted a question and gotten an answer within an hour that has helped them do their job.
We have a very talented group of professionals that donate their time to help others, something that I do as well. So for this Friday's poll:
Do you independently research answers you get online?
I ask this because I see so many people that thank others for the solution and let them know that the response worked, but in a very short period of time. It can only take a little time to check documentation, but often I worry that people are not following through on that step.
It's been a long time since I've asked technical questions online, but I have had to ask experts in other areas for help. However I've been careful to try to check their advice to be sure that I'm not doing something that would make my situation worse. I think I have a good feel for what sounds reasonable, and what might work, and what might just be some scam, but you never know.
I've researched lots of ideas online, some sounding good, some sounding crazy, and some working despite my concerns. Years ago my wife's computer died and we found BartPE, a bootable disc that allowed us to salvage some information from her corrupt drive. I wasn't sure it was a good idea at the time, but we had run out of other options. However I typically do try to double check someone's ideas, looking for other sites, and if possible, vendor references that support what is recommended.
And I try to use some type of test environment. That's not always possible, like some of the advice I've gotten for my tractor, but if it is, I do try to test things in a way that damage my world.
It seems sometimes that I find people just taking advice, code, ideas, from the Internet without the proverbial grain of salt. So as a reminder, please double check what you find in the SQLServerCentral forums, or anywhere else, before you use it. And let us know if that was your policy before you read this.
Steve Jones
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