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Topic: Whats the problem?, loose the attitude< Next Oldest | Next Newest >
Downsouth Dave Offline





Group: Members
Posts: 7
Joined: Oct. 2004
Posted: Oct. 01 2004,11:22 QUOTE

Hi.

Sorry you've been brushed off, but I'm in my 6th year and
I feel users are on a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being a newbie.
(i'm a 2 - basic competency).  There are almost no 3's, so
quite a gap exists.  The key, I think, is not to be too ambitious,
and work on secondary drives until you are comfortable.

regards,
Dave
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Grim Offline





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Posts: 284
Joined: Mar. 2004
Posted: Oct. 01 2004,11:39 QUOTE

Hey, it would seem, in my absence, that there are people other than myself who get tired of answering the same questions over and over, ad infinitum.  Since the database has been migrated on these forums, some of my old answers aren't even on the boards anymore.

I still think we should make some of the better answers sticky and grouped in the HOWTO or READ THIS FIRST, NEWBIE section of the forums.  It would prevent duplication of effort, and give a solid information to new users who want to learn how the distro works.

Also, for those of you who haven't read it and are new to Linux in general, you really need to read How to ask questions the smart way by Eric S. Raymond.  It's a good read.  Take the following, for example:
Quote
RTFM and STFW: How To Tell You've Seriously Screwed Up

There is an ancient and hallowed tradition: if you get a reply that reads “RTFM”, the person who sent it thinks you should have Read The ing Manual. He is almost certainly right. Go read it.

RTFM has a younger relative. If you get a reply that reads “STFW”, the person who sent it thinks you should have Searched The ing Web. He is almost certainly right. Go search it.

In Web forums, you may also be told to search the forum archives. In fact, someone may even be so kind as to provide a pointer to the previous thread where this problem was solved. But do not rely on this consideration; do your archive-searching before asking.

Often, the person telling you to do a search has the manual or the web page with the information you need open, and is looking at it as he types. These replies mean that he thinks (a) the information you need is easy to find, and (b) you will learn more if you seek out the information than if you have it spoon-fed to you.

You shouldn't be offended by this; by hacker standards, he is showing you a rough kind of respect simply by not ignoring you. You should instead thank him for his grandmotherly kindness.


Personally, I don't think it can be said any clearer than that.


--------------
No good deed goes unpunished...
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reidar Offline





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Posts: 92
Joined: Sep. 2004
Posted: Oct. 01 2004,13:01 QUOTE

I can see why people find it annoying to answer the same questions over and over. But don't think this forum has a record of being hostile at all! There are lots of people here who are willing to help out newcomers, even if they keep asking the same questions over and over, or at least point them in the right direction.

That being said, I believe that it is more important to read posts than to write them (at least for me that is). I have followed this forum for about half a year, reading looooots of posts, before I started writing anything myself. I am not sure if that is the best solution, but I have learned A LOT from reading the forum. IMHO this forum is one of the best and most useful forums I have seen. There is just so much to learn from reading the posts here!!!

Thanks a lot to all of you guys!

:)

-r
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compaqjohn Offline





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Joined: Sep. 2004
Posted: Oct. 02 2004,09:08 QUOTE

Well,well.. lots of different views
You know, if you see a question that has been answered before you don't have to bother reading or replying to it.  I wonder if that is in the HOWTO for asking questions?  Monkeys don't read or use computers so probably HOWTO should be written with a computer user in mind,  I agree that there are some very good ones out there, but in general alot of them are very generic and very cryptic still and of course out dated.  Having written does not give right of way to anybody as they are only the opinion of just a comsortium and one will find that very simple questions are still left unanswered.  If howtos done the job they were mean't to do then forums like this would not exsist at all.
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Rapidweather Offline





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Posts: 375
Joined: Jan. 2004
Posted: Oct. 02 2004,17:01 QUOTE

From what I can tell in my community, there are going to be lots of Windows XP users looking for a linux (or mac) alternative. Met a lady this week with a Toshiba laptop running XP that had locked up, and she was thinking of running over the machine with one of her companies delivery trucks. She wound up asking Toshiba for a restore CD, as she has lost her's.
I have an XP box, and can't keep up with the updates, especially for Microsoft Office. (I don't have broadband) I had to send off for a service pack 2 CD, which Microsoft promptly sent.
---
So, we all need to be able to answer those questions time and time again, or
do like Grim does, and give a pointer to the place in the forums where that question has been answered. (How does he find those posts?).
---
:D


--------------
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http://www.geocities.com/rapidweather/getting_started.html
Screenshots:
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