Easy now...
I agree with your sentiment, in general, but in this case I expect someone who has spend good money on a top of the line miner to, at the very least, understand the absolute basics of mining. They should know what network difficulty is and what it takes to solve a block, otherwise what are they doing? They should understand what the pool they have their miner pointed to mines, otherwise what are they doing? Being ignorant in these basic things is inexcusable in this case, it has nothing to do with being knowledgeable in a particular field - I'm not talking about programming ASICs or building hardware, I'm talking operating a bitcoin miner 101. If all you know is to plug in the miner and watch the "blocks found" field for a change from 0 to 1 then you are doing it wrong.
Don't you see how "easy" ASIC's have made it for ANYONE to mine now with very little knowledge on the subject of mining itself. It takes very little "knowledge" to hook up an ASIC and set it up to point it at a pool. They provide instructions with the ASIC to do this. As for all of the other knowledge in relation to bitcoin mining; that does not come with the ASIC.
Yes, you are "...talking operating a bitcoin miner 101." It's nothing to "operating" one; in the sense of doing what the instructions tell you to do to hook it up and set it up. The instructions do not tell you what is involved with solving a block, etc... I agree, that is "basic" knowledge but he and many others have just begun by hooking up there rig(s) and pointing them here per the instructions. They are depending on what information others are kind enough to provide in the forums in terms of "basic" knowledge after setting up and pointing their rig(s) at a pool. Lets give the guy a break.
Hell, I will admit I did not know this when I first started. I simply hooked up my miners [18 x S3's at the time (September 22, 2014)] per the instructions and learned as I went along. I'm still learning all the time. The more I learn, the more I find I need to learn. If I [Or anyone else] is to be demeaned for not knowing every little detail about mining before buying ASIC's, hooking them up and setting them up per the instructions, so be it. It's your prerogative...
You say, "If all you know is to plug in the miner and watch the "blocks found" field for a change from 0 to 1 then you are doing it wrong." If that's the way you feel, then fine. All I'm saying is, you can tell someone "...they are doing it wrong" in a more respectful way [That does not demean them] and patiently instruct them on what they should do that is correct; in terms of paying attention to temps, HWE's, how to under clock and over clock, etc. Much of this can be learned from reading other forums where people were kind enough to take the time out of their day to explain HOW to do, WHAT to do, WHEN to do, and WHY?
You're actually implying they should have never bought an ASIC if they did not know these basics before setting up and hooking up their rig(s) per the instructions. I disagree... We have many new miners coming to the fold. Some with small amount of hash and some with relatively large amounts of hash. We could use as many of them here in the pool as possible.
I take the time on occasions to send PM's to miners [Especially newbies] to try to encourage them into the fold. Why? Because most of those who have mined for a while have already made their decision where they will point their rigs [For the most part]. It's the relatively new ones [Full member and lower] we need to market the pool to. The last thing I need is someone to discourage someone from staying here after I invested the time to encourage them to point their rigs here.
All I'm saying, is we can have more of a sense of brotherhood/family in the pool forum if we take the time to assist those new to mining in the little details without demeaning them. Those who have been in the mining game for a while have already chosen the pool they will stay with for the most part. New miners who come along looking for a pool [A home] to stay with could use our encouragement to stay with us and our knowledge to understand and grow.
A new member might be more appreciative and more likely to stay with us than to leave and go elsewhere if we assist them [With humility in mind] instead of belittling them. That's all I'm trying to get you [And any other pool member for that matter] to understand. If all we want here are pool members who have everything about mining down pat, this pool is in for a rough ride. Especially, if we turn away those who come along in search for a pool they can call "Home" to point their rigs [No matter whether they are big or small]. There is strength in numbers. The more members the merrier [Whether they are new miners or more experienced].