Not everyone, but a few vocal rotten apples are hostile to new users who either:
Don’t already know the answer to their own question
Are not using their distro
Didn’t immediately read the wiki entry for their exact problem
This kind of gatekeeping is why some people are put off of Linux and the community as a whole. Just because someone asks a question you think is obvious, doesn’t mean it’s obvious to them.
Oh hi it’s me.
Archwiki and tldr are great, but man pages explain things adequately about 20% of the time.
Many of the Ms we’re supposed to R aren’t very well written, and we need to be open to explaining how things work in different ways if qe want others to take up with the things we like.
Man pages are the only reference material I know that has more information-free circular definition chains than Wikipedia. And I imagine that it’s for much the same reason; they’re primarily written and fought over by experts who only need terse reminder notes for themselves, and who can’t remember what it was like not spending every day up to their elbows in the subject.
There’s a good way to point people to existing documentation without being a jackass.
If someone doesn’t find the wiki article that answers their question because they didn’t know how to ask it with the right keywords, just point them to the wiki article and add any missing context to help the next person out.
A rude “rtfm” response with closing the ticket isn’t helpful.
it’s fair to tell someone to rtfm politely, but it exists for a reason and we must cultivate a culture of rtfm. the community can be there for more specific advice.
I think the main problem lies in the community.
Not everyone, but a few vocal rotten apples are hostile to new users who either:
Don’t already know the answer to their own question
Are not using their distro
Didn’t immediately read the wiki entry for their exact problem
This kind of gatekeeping is why some people are put off of Linux and the community as a whole. Just because someone asks a question you think is obvious, doesn’t mean it’s obvious to them.
For number 3, it is only gatekeeping if the person asking for help can’t read.
Oh hi it’s me. Archwiki and tldr are great, but man pages explain things adequately about 20% of the time.
Many of the Ms we’re supposed to R aren’t very well written, and we need to be open to explaining how things work in different ways if qe want others to take up with the things we like.
Man pages are the only reference material I know that has more information-free circular definition chains than Wikipedia. And I imagine that it’s for much the same reason; they’re primarily written and fought over by experts who only need terse reminder notes for themselves, and who can’t remember what it was like not spending every day up to their elbows in the subject.
i’d go as far as saying tfm exists for a reason
And Google sucks more and more every day…
There’s a good way to point people to existing documentation without being a jackass.
If someone doesn’t find the wiki article that answers their question because they didn’t know how to ask it with the right keywords, just point them to the wiki article and add any missing context to help the next person out.
A rude “rtfm” response with closing the ticket isn’t helpful.
it’s fair to tell someone to rtfm politely, but it exists for a reason and we must cultivate a culture of rtfm. the community can be there for more specific advice.