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Topic: Whats the problem?, loose the attitude

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max-ebb

Group: Members
Posts: 22
Joined: Sep. 2004

Posted: Oct. 01 2004,03:04

Im a linux newbie and find myself asking questions that are very basic at times.
I do not agree linux users are not supportive, quite the opposite.
I always found alot of support and cameradie between linux users, probably cos we all share the same passion for this amazing OS and community.
that said, I think it would be a cool thing to gather the most common newbie questions and maybe post a frequently asked questions answered in the forum.
that would save both newbies and experts alot of frustration.

mikshaw

Group: Members
Posts: 4856
Joined: July 2004

Posted: Oct. 01 2004,03:09

I believe if you're going to post a reply, you might as well try to be a little more helpful than just saying RTFM, particularly for a newbie who might not even know HOW to read a manual.

I agree, however, that it's frustrating to see the same questions asked numerous times, sometimes seeing the same question twice on the same frickin' page. A search can often give you more information than waiting for an answer in a single thread.

"Which distro should I use?" is probably the biggest annoyance, followed closely by "Which desktop?".

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http://www.tldp.org/LDP/intro-linux/html/index.html

SaidinUnleashed Offline

Group: Members
Posts: 1428
Joined: Mar. 2004

Posted: Oct. 01 2004,03:30

Quote

"Which desktop?".

my personal favorite.

Quote

http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/posting.php

i haven't laughed like that in a loooong time. God, i love n00bs.

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Unleash the power of the TILDE~~~

AwPhuch

Group: Members
Posts: 1404
Joined: April 2004

Posted: Oct. 01 2004,03:30

Quote (mikshaw @ Sep. 30 2004,23:09)

I believe if you're going to post a reply, you might as well try to be a little more helpful than just saying RTFM, particularly for a newbie who might not even know HOW to read a manual.

How disrespectful it is to someone that takes the time and effort to write up a gorgeous manual (one that a monkey can understand) to say that....i know of many manuals and whatnot that have taken hundreds of hours to prepare only to have someone say "They might not even know HOW to read a manual"

Look at almost all Manuals, HOWTO, PDF files there are out there and say that you cant find out how to do it if you would take the time to read and try 1st...

Hell I learned how to recompile a kernel thru a forum and never once posted a "how do I" post, I can now do dvd -> VCD and back up my personal DVD and never posted a "I cant figure it out" post...I took the time to search the forum, READ THE FINE MANUAL, trial and error, and the occasional goofup followed by a reformat!!!

Dont tell me it cant be done, its just ppl are sometimes to lazy to try on thier own 1st (not that they are too lazy just want a quick fix or awnser)

Plus the RTFM posters know that the awnser to the question is already awnsered in THE FINE MANUAL

Brian
AwPhuch

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WoofyDugfock Offline

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Posts: 146
Joined: Sep. 2004

Posted: Oct. 01 2004,10:59

I'm a *nix virgin and have to say I have received outstanding help on this board in the newbie drama of trying to save my settings (now successful), mainly from the sainted Henk1955, who is obviously patient and a great asset to dsl. However I should point out that I usually indicate what I've tried when asking for help, and have learned some *nix basics as a result of a lot of googling and forum searching.

But searching the forums does not always provide a recipe-like answer, or a clear answer in any one place for that matter. Actually if you do search you'll find that a few people who have asked the same basic question as mine (how to save their settings) have got no reply at all. Of course, they didn't make clear what they were trying or the fact that they were obviously working hard at the issue.

I think the REAL issue is the lack of adequate simple DSL newbie faqs on the dsl website. This is not a trivial issue if people want to advance the success of dsl and *nix more generally. I promised Henk I would write a simple idiot-proof How To for saving settings and I will.

Phrases in the alleged "faq" such as "isolate the static components from filetool.lst" (say what?) are cryptic to say the least and don't cut it for us n00bs. You might as well say"frag the discombobulator". I know what it means now but that's easy in retrospect. Actually I don't think the introductory info ever bothers saying what filetool.lst really does (tells backup/restore what files to backup) - again, very obvious in retrospect. But not to a newbie.

And if you think I'm an idiot, bear in mind I actually have a minor in computer science (albeit a long time ago) and learned Pascal, Fortran IV and Compass assembler language to a fairly high level (not that I remember much). So just how to the other n00bs get on?

Laugh all you like but give newbies a hand so that dsl gets taken up more widely.

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"We don't need no stinkin' Windows"

http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/linuxunix/0,39020390,39149796,00.htm

17 replies since Sep. 30 2004,21:21

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