I was lookin around on LQ and noticed a lot of things on it. I never really LOOKED at some of things. One thing I saw was
USERS ONLINE: # members and 587 guests! 587? thats a LOT more than i thought. 587 people who can't add to the community! bottom line: REGISTER! the price is right (NOTHING) and you can contribute and ask questions that maybe others want to know or don't know but are curious. this is a tough OS due to quirks with hardware or simple ignorance on a LARGE playing Field. im not trying to campaign for LQ as much as i am trying to get more people involved. how many posts are there with people saying: IM DONE! i was there, i get there 2-3x a week but people here are willin to get you outta that mindframe. so do yourself as well as everyone a favor and contribute!

the guests could be members who haven't logged in

Many times its also members who don't browse with cookies so they are logged out after a certain amount of time, etc.

Also LQ is hit up alot from google searches, many could be people who were searching across the net and hit our site from a search.. get their answer and leave, etc.

You'd be suprised at the amount of members who have been members for several years now but yet never had to post a question, they use the site to search, recieve email notification on threads, etc.

Some members have even become contributing members without having to post a question to recieved help, they use the search function to find what they are looking for.

Cheers.

While all this is true, pyre's original suggestion to all who *are* out there lurking is still a good idea.

Well true but how is someone simply searching for an answer but yet knows nothing about Linux themselves going to contribute in answering or writing howto's, etc? You might see 500 browsing at one given time but that doesn't mean they have or need to post their question, etc. Especially when its already been asked and answered, they get what they need and move on.. etc.

Oh well.. yeah, to those who lurk and are linux savvy but don't expect all of the 500 browsers that aren't logged in to all be guru's.

Well, that implies people have to be gurus before they can contribute. The rawest newbie who has successfully purchased or downloaded a distro is a step ahead of the even rawer newbie who's still wondering how to do that much. And even a guru might be stumped by an odd fluke that some newbie may have happened to solve just because he stumbled into it first. Hackers release early and often - posters can post early and often. Both get better through community interaction.

(Note, I'm not saying clueless people should be telling even less clueful people to format their hard drives and so on - but I am saying all kinds of people can contribute. More eyeballs, shallower problems.)

Well, there is always going to be that lurker.. I think just by them using this site as a source and possibly recommend it to others is contributing in its own way. I think the people who answer questions are a big help, but not everyone is just going to jump right in. Some are outspoken, some aren't. Look at my post count for instance.. I don't even consider myself a guru.. I just talk way too much...

Yeah, that is a good point - just using the site and especially getting others to do so by word of mouth is contributing. And, yeah, there's definitely nothing wrong with being the quiet type - I just was thinking if any lurker was reading this and *wanting* to post but holding back, that there's no reason not to dive in. But the flipside is just as important - nobody should feel obligated to post if they don't want to - they can just look around.

As far as post counts (though mine are just a fraction), I could use a 'newbie -vv' or something, personally, but LQ Addict will have to do.

wow. i guess my point was (as brought out) if you come to LQ often and haven't registered (like I used to be) register. i didnt have a real point other than if you have a thought put it in. im quite a newbie but i have come quite far, as a result I know at least some stuff, stuff others may not have come across. that was really it...

I think all of you should remember one important thing though. The best way to help with this site is to become a contributing member. That helps Jeremy with the costs and can make this become even a better site than it already is (If that is possible). So I encourage all of you to follow my example and contribute financially to the cause!!!!