Hi, I'm not really into engaging in philosophical debates on what is the better pedagogy but I will just like to drop some thoughts and leave it for the vultures to feast on.
I agree, reading the manual and finding the solution yourself is a skill that every *nix user should have. And it's a great service that every oldie would impart any newbie if s/he directs him/her to do his/her homework first. But then again, I've also a need to balance this approach with the need to _properly_ instruct them to do so. Ethicality does not need to give way for well intended but rudely placed instructions. For one, I personally believe that many of not most of the resources available in Google do not very well connect with the newbie (i.e., most are written for intermediate or expert users). We could take this in the positive by way of reflection on how poorly *nix materials are organized in the web and the need to organize these body of knowledge (thus explains the impetus for such projects as the Linux Documentation Project). One cannot really blame them to pose these questions because their problem stems not so much as being non-resourceful and non-diligent in personally searching for answers to their questions as to not knowing how to formulate the proper question to ask. Had it been easy to pose the question properly, Google would have been an easy tool for them (and also for us) in exploring the big world of *nix. What I'm driving at is this: we do not need always to rudely tell newbies to search for the answer first on the net. They may have already and probably they've been passing keywords erroneously on these search engines or were missing the solution right before their eyes. They just probably need a nudge on the right direction... also a mild exhortation for them to always exhaust all possibilities within their reach before bringing it up to any ML or fora. There are other alternatives... one of them is to completely ignore newbie questions and the other is to limit the ML for technical questions only (this then gives us license to lambaste such amateurish queries). Just my few cents of thought. Lange -----Original Message----- From: Happy Kamote Foundation [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, May 24, 2006 2:43 PM To: Philippine Linux Users' Group (PLUG) Technical Discussion List Subject: Re: list orientation (was Re: [plug] Debian versus other distro)[Scanned] On 5/24/06, Ariz Jacinto <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > use RFTM (Read First The Manual) instead of RTFM. > but i think the most common user problem is WTFM. > hmm.. shouldnt it be RTMF (Read the Manual First). Everybody has that habit of jumping into things and consulting the manual later when everything goes wrong. Believe me, even the smallest things, we consult the manual later. I believe there's nothing wrong with telling the user "RTFM" or "Google first" before answering any question. Nawawala ang wasted time on answering "already answered questions". Diamond in the rough? Cool, meron at meron din niyan but looking for diamonds in used and sifted gravel? what were you thinking? The whole thing would be useless and a total waste of time. Mechanism. I have nothing against newbies. Naging newbie din ako, and nagturo din ako ng mga newbies. I believe you're doing them a ton of help by telling them "RTFMFM" or googling. Politeness is overrated thats why the military never use it. and how does the old parable say.. give the man fish, and he will die.. teach the man how to fish.. _________________________________________________ Philippine Linux Users' Group (PLUG) Mailing List [email protected] (#PLUG @ irc.free.net.ph) Read the Guidelines: http://linux.org.ph/lists Searchable Archives: http://archives.free.net.ph _________________________________________________ Philippine Linux Users' Group (PLUG) Mailing List [email protected] (#PLUG @ irc.free.net.ph) Read the Guidelines: http://linux.org.ph/lists Searchable Archives: http://archives.free.net.ph
