Every other post in the Usenet days used to be RTFM. Eventually, enough ExpertsEx/StackEx/Reddit posts (or youtube videos) answered it well enough to drown that out, but you still need a level of proficiency to know what to ask, and there are precious few newb forums.
I think the worst of it now is ethos problems. People are coming in from Windows, wanting to do it the Windows way, and they catch a lot of shit for it. How do I do A without the terminal, Linux is shit because you have to use the terminal. Linux is too hard. The second worst is infighting over distros like they are sports teams. Next up is the all or nothings, You can’t game on linus vs you can absolutely play anything worth a damn on linux.
It’s bad enough when people spend longer berating the OP for their question-asking etiquette than it would take to answer the question.
However it’s nothing compared to the absolute deviants who do provide an answer but do so in a deliberately oblique fashion that requires much more research to understand than the original problem.
It’s volunteer tech support, not testing that I’m pure of heart so I can access a mystic sword, you can just say the thing.
I am not shitting when I say I go look and trace the actual source code long before I step onto the forums.
BSD forums are filled with people who have been using UNIX since the 1980s, like fucking grand wizard shit, and they don’t have time for your stupid ass
To be fair you would not believe the amount of times people have asked me things that are written in the man pages (for Linux problems). I think it’s only fair to ask that kind of thing (though with BSD I would expect a slightly higher level of expertise…
the .world autist community has gotten a couple linux questions and you know what happens. people answered the question, in the info dumpy yet polite and helpful way possible. maybe we just need to spin up an ‘ask an autist about linux’ community somewhere. “we’ll answer your question along with 12 others you didn’t even know you had” kinda thing.
OMG yes. I left the Linux community a couple of months ago and my mental health improved almost immediately. I still use Linux; just left the community.
I just installed Fedora and if I hadn’t been a coder I would have given up at least twice (the ISO writer app requires Visual C++ SDK to be installed, and tells you this by complaining about missing dlls).
Fr. I went to the fedora discord and after asking a question in the help channel a guy straight up told me to Google it. Wow, so helpful, I wonder why Linux doesn’t have more users
TBF, you went to the Fedora discord, which is not officially run by Fedora. Fedora only officially runs their Matrix server and forum.
If I’m being completely honest, IME if you have to use Discord or Telegram for support, you might as well use ChatGPT. Something about those platforms makes people such assholes. People on forums are generally lovely. Matrix can be hit or miss.
edit: also, 4 year fedora user here, if theres anything I can do to help please let me know :)
That’s reassuring. I have avoided Discord mostly, because it’s obviously a poor format for sharing information, but I had to dive in recently for help with a niche hobby. Every other source just directed people to the Discord.
Every time I thought I found an answer, it was in a thread of people disagreeing over every bit of advice, interwoven with parallel disagreements over unrelated advice.
What’s the appeal? Does Discord just create the illusion of usefulness by overwhelmingly users with low quality… ah yes, the ChatGPT comparison is fitting.
The appeal is the people. It became the most popular platform for group chats among younger people and tech savvy people due to its ease of use. Its since been enshitified to hell and back. Not that I would say any walled garden platform isnt enshitified to begin with at this point.
I mean, that is still part of the Linux community. Thanks for the offer but by now I think I solved most of my annoyances (though it took a long time and was quite painful…)
Im not denying they aren’t. Just trying to give honest advice about where to get good advice. Hopefully in the future things won’t take as long or be as painful :(
TBF, they’re not talking about the official fedora devs or what they’re doing but the community in general. I would assume the Fedora discord is the largest discord dedicated to Fedora and whether we like it or not it’s a representation of the linux community.
In what way was I being hostile? I reread my comment and I really can’t figure it out. The first paragraph reads as very dismissive of OPs complaint, it just seemed to me like you missed the point OP was making.
I appreciate the helpfulness in pointing OP to better resources though!
The copying of my type-style with the capital “TBF” at the beginning came off as hostile. I apologize if that wasn’t the intention. I wasn’t trying to be dismissive as much as just provide knowledge Ive discovered as someone who has been around longer than new people, but shorter than the wizards.
See also “the Linux community”.
ducks for cover
Every other post in the Usenet days used to be RTFM. Eventually, enough ExpertsEx/StackEx/Reddit posts (or youtube videos) answered it well enough to drown that out, but you still need a level of proficiency to know what to ask, and there are precious few newb forums.
I think the worst of it now is ethos problems. People are coming in from Windows, wanting to do it the Windows way, and they catch a lot of shit for it. How do I do A without the terminal, Linux is shit because you have to use the terminal. Linux is too hard. The second worst is infighting over distros like they are sports teams. Next up is the all or nothings, You can’t game on linus vs you can absolutely play anything worth a damn on linux.
BSD is by far much worse than any Linux community. “Have you read the man pages.”
Yes mother fucker, that’s why I’m asking here!
It’s bad enough when people spend longer berating the OP for their question-asking etiquette than it would take to answer the question.
However it’s nothing compared to the absolute deviants who do provide an answer but do so in a deliberately oblique fashion that requires much more research to understand than the original problem.
It’s volunteer tech support, not testing that I’m pure of heart so I can access a mystic sword, you can just say the thing.
BSD was never meant for the faint of heart.
I am not shitting when I say I go look and trace the actual source code long before I step onto the forums.
BSD forums are filled with people who have been using UNIX since the 1980s, like fucking grand wizard shit, and they don’t have time for your stupid ass
/UJ they’re not that bad tho
I will never feel bad for telling someone to read the source to answer their own question. It’s right there, man.
Granted, this is generally in a professional engineering context.
To be fair you would not believe the amount of times people have asked me things that are written in the man pages (for Linux problems). I think it’s only fair to ask that kind of thing (though with BSD I would expect a slightly higher level of expertise…
the .world autist community has gotten a couple linux questions and you know what happens. people answered the question, in the info dumpy yet polite and helpful way possible. maybe we just need to spin up an ‘ask an autist about linux’ community somewhere. “we’ll answer your question along with 12 others you didn’t even know you had” kinda thing.
OMG yes. I left the Linux community a couple of months ago and my mental health improved almost immediately. I still use Linux; just left the community.
How does ‘the Linux community’ affect your mental health? Because you can’t read a manpage? LMFAO.
Alright I’m just gonna spell it out to you:
You’re the problem
I say this with no due respect whatsoever:
Shut the fuck up.
No, I just don’t enjoy watching people be toxic to other people, then ending their comments with “LMFAO” to top it off.
Like that
Just served up the evidence on a platter there for us all to read.
It’s getting better! There are now distros for normies who don’t want to have to do anything besides press the power button.
I just installed Fedora and if I hadn’t been a coder I would have given up at least twice (the ISO writer app requires Visual C++ SDK to be installed, and tells you this by complaining about missing dlls).
I used Rufus and it was pretty seamless
PEBKAC RTFM
Fr. I went to the fedora discord and after asking a question in the help channel a guy straight up told me to Google it. Wow, so helpful, I wonder why Linux doesn’t have more users
TBF, you went to the Fedora discord, which is not officially run by Fedora. Fedora only officially runs their Matrix server and forum.
If I’m being completely honest, IME if you have to use Discord or Telegram for support, you might as well use ChatGPT. Something about those platforms makes people such assholes. People on forums are generally lovely. Matrix can be hit or miss.
edit: also, 4 year fedora user here, if theres anything I can do to help please let me know :)
That’s reassuring. I have avoided Discord mostly, because it’s obviously a poor format for sharing information, but I had to dive in recently for help with a niche hobby. Every other source just directed people to the Discord.
Every time I thought I found an answer, it was in a thread of people disagreeing over every bit of advice, interwoven with parallel disagreements over unrelated advice.
What’s the appeal? Does Discord just create the illusion of usefulness by overwhelmingly users with low quality… ah yes, the ChatGPT comparison is fitting.
The appeal is the people. It became the most popular platform for group chats among younger people and tech savvy people due to its ease of use. Its since been enshitified to hell and back. Not that I would say any walled garden platform isnt enshitified to begin with at this point.
I mean, that is still part of the Linux community. Thanks for the offer but by now I think I solved most of my annoyances (though it took a long time and was quite painful…)
Im not denying they aren’t. Just trying to give honest advice about where to get good advice. Hopefully in the future things won’t take as long or be as painful :(
TBF, they’re not talking about the official fedora devs or what they’re doing but the community in general. I would assume the Fedora discord is the largest discord dedicated to Fedora and whether we like it or not it’s a representation of the linux community.
I was just trying to be helpful, I wasn’t arguing over whether or not the Discord was the largest representation. Why did you get so hostile? :(
In what way was I being hostile? I reread my comment and I really can’t figure it out. The first paragraph reads as very dismissive of OPs complaint, it just seemed to me like you missed the point OP was making.
I appreciate the helpfulness in pointing OP to better resources though!
The copying of my type-style with the capital “TBF” at the beginning came off as hostile. I apologize if that wasn’t the intention. I wasn’t trying to be dismissive as much as just provide knowledge Ive discovered as someone who has been around longer than new people, but shorter than the wizards.
RTFM
Literally why I don’t use arch anymore. When I google something and that’s the only response to someone with my exact question I just get pissed off.