[piersklein]

Firstly, I am not associated with F4 in any manner. Also, I intend none of the following as a direct attack on any poster.

That being said, I am disappointed by some of the responses in this thread. F4, from my understanding from previous posts and their web series, is a specifically student run group. Adult mentors do advise, but the group is intentionally student run.

As to respond to some points made in this thread:

It is not my impression that any member of F4 or the wider FRC community is attempting to usurp CD as the go to place for technical information. Further, I would expect those answering on Connect to reference CD or suggest it for more in depth discussion.

I remember what it was like to first post here on CD. I remember what it was like to get my first dots (they were red). Chief Delphi attempts to remain an open community but nonetheless it is difficult to post on when you are new and I still find it difficult to approach mentors who I know have vast experience for fear of appearing dumb or ignorant. In addition, we all know of threads that have gotten out of control and had to be locked, and seeing these threads only increases previously stated anxieties. Whether you judge it to be just, there are times when students only feel comfortable talking to other students.

Finally, any criticisms of students directly (not of F4 as a whole, but targeted towards specific students), comments suggesting negative aspects to an individual's decisions or actions, or comments suggesting that students are incompetent should be kept in a private message. No student will feel comfortable coming to a mentor for advice if the mentor tells them they are incompetent.