Get Help By Being A Troll?
Robin Lee Powell cut-and-pasted to me an excerpt he found on a chat channel containing quite an unfortunate and amusing insight about how to get experts to help newbies.
< dm > I discovered that you'd never get an answer to a problem from Linux Gurus by asking. You have to troll in order for someone to help you with a Linux problem.
< dm > For example, I didn't know how to find files by contents and the man pages were way too confusing. What did I do? I knew from experience that if I just asked, I'd be told to read the man pages even though it was too hard for me.
< dm > Instead, I did what works. Trolling. By stating that Linux sucked because it was so hard to find a file compared to Windows, I got every self-described Linux Guru around the world coming to my aid. They gave me examples after examples of different ways to do it. All this in order to prove to everyone that Linux was better.
* ion has quit IRC (Ping timeout)
< dm > brings a tear to my eye... :') so true..
< dm > So if you're starting out Linux, I advise you to use the same method as I did to get help. Start the sentence with "Linux is gay because it can't do XXX like Windows can". You will have PhDs running to tell you how to solve your problems.
< dm > this person must be a kindred spirit of mine
Comments
dbvanhorn on Jan. 17, 2007 5:39 PM
Unfortunately, too true.
zifferent on (None)
zifferent on Jan. 17, 2007 10:26 PM
That's sick. ;)
charlie-ihsan on Jan. 18, 2007 1:36 AM
*shakes head*
...the alternative is Google.
le-bebna-kamni on Jan. 30, 2007 7:44 PM
Google isn't always the best of help, and frequently all you get when you search are technical descriptions that aren't any better for the newbie than the man pages.
I can completely relate to Robin Lee Powell's text. To see a paraphrasing of one of my recent appeals for Linux help, check out my November 20th post. Consequently, I have no intention of going through that experience [once again] any time soon.
But I like the idea of saying "Linux sucks". Maybe I'll give it a try next time I'm banging my head in frustration.
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