It's the shorthand way of saying "Get outta here, kid". It actually means "Read the freaking manual", meaning that the answers sought can be found in the program's general documentation. Since it's considered good etiquette to make a good faith effort to find your own answers before asking a user's group, many hackers feel self righteous and say 'RTFM' whenever the answer is already documented someplace.
While this attitude may be fitting on occasion, I think it's generally more inflammatory than helpful. Pointing the user to the documentation (maybe with a quick note on how you found the answer) is more constructive. On Mon, Apr 05, 2010 at 08:27:00AM -0700, [email protected] wrote: > but I have heard the phrase RTFM a lot > * > what is RTFM ???? > > * > On Mon, Apr 5, 2010 at 8:01 AM, hard wyrd <[1][email protected]> wrote: > > Ahhh ESR's eccentricities. > > Actually, what applies in real-life, applies here specially with > relating to people. Be courteous online, as you would in real life. Good > etiquette when conversing/dealing with people face to face apply here > online as well. With that thought, you can definitely get help in > healthy measure. > > On Mon, Apr 5, 2010 at 8:54 PM, Robert Citek <[2][email protected]> > wrote: > > On Sun, Apr 4, 2010 at 11:42 PM, Chris Miller > <[3][email protected]> wrote: > > Don't give thanks in advance: > > > > * *[4]http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html#courtesy > > That's not quite what is written: > > <quote> > Some hackers feel this connotes an intention not to thank anybody > afterwards. Our recommendation is to either say *Thanks in advance* > first and thank respondents afterwards, or express courtesy in a > different way, such as by saying *Thanks for your attention* or > *Thanks for your consideration*.) > </quote> > > Note "Some hackers", not all. *"Some hackers" are socially maladroit > and gauche. *"Some" don't bathe. *So, one might want to take their > social advice about courtesy with a hefty grain of salt (or Purell). > > Regards, > - Robert > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Linux > Users Group. > To post a message, send email to [5][email protected] > To unsubscribe, send email to > [6][email protected] > For more options, visit our group at > [7]http://groups.google.com/group/linuxusersgroup > > To unsubscribe, reply using "remove me" as the subject. > > -- > Penguin, penguin, and more penguin. > > Believe that within the brain is a brain, and within it another brain, > and so on and so forth. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Linux Users > Group. > To post a message, send email to [8][email protected] > To unsubscribe, send email to > [9][email protected] > For more options, visit our group at > [10]http://groups.google.com/group/linuxusersgroup > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Linux Users > Group. > To post a message, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe, send email to [email protected] > For more options, visit our group at > [11]http://groups.google.com/group/linuxusersgroup > > References > > Visible links > 1. mailto:[email protected] > 2. mailto:[email protected] > 3. mailto:[email protected] > 4. http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html#courtesy > 5. mailto:[email protected] > 6. mailto:[email protected] > 7. http://groups.google.com/group/linuxusersgroup > 8. mailto:[email protected] > 9. mailto:[email protected] > 10. http://groups.google.com/group/linuxusersgroup > 11. http://groups.google.com/group/linuxusersgroup
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