Re: Thoughts on RTFM
I really don't want to single out Viktor Rosenfeld
[rosenfel@informatik.hu-berlin.de], but his opinion is the pearl seed for a
particular observation. Simultaneously, it represents the "rational" voice
of most people who try to carry the stone, and is astonishingly wide of the
mark. So:
> [1] I don't really have anything against step-by-step instructions, I've
> read a lot in my learning process and I've written a couple of myself to
> help out others. I just think that step-by-step instructions should
> serve as a base to familirize (sp?) yourself with the problem. Once you
> get it going, you should follow up some of the information.
This is the sort of Pollyanna Principle thinking that will keep Linux on the
sidelines. For example, I just purchased the Debian distro from LSL. Guess
what? They probably pressed it using multi-session CD format; which format
my 5 yr. old SCSI CD-ROM drive won't read. RTFM is clearly not an answer:
how will that answer solve a problem created by such an arbitrary decision
by a vendor? No amount of "RTFM" is going to help here. No-one, on any list,
is going to attempt to answer a question like: "I just bought a CD and my
computer won't read it. What's wrong?" And no, I haven't asked LSL in which
format they burned the CD; such a question is likely to be met w/ shrugs,
stares, and a lip curl that could lift 10 stone.
Tell me, [list], how would you phrase such a question so that it could be
solved with "step-by-step instructions" that don't elicit the answer under
discussion? RTFM is *not* an option. It's a rude, elitist opinion that has
no shortage of clueless technocrats willing to fill the airwaves with that
meaningless answer. There are so *many* things that can go wrong trying to
install any Linux distro that the simplistic "RTFM - now go away" is
nothing short of technical infanticide. It sounds funny to the dittoheads
who parrot the Hacker's Dictionary, but will never help carry the stone. The
sui generis proposition: "Once you get it going" is an unsustainable
directive to all but the earnest propeller-head.
It's not even *remotely* possible to "familirize (sp?) yourself" with a
problem like incompatible CD formats. I gave up on Red Hat, because of their
bogus RPM, and utter lack of competent technical support. Throwing myself
into the Debian mosh pit is beginning to look like an even worse mistake.
FWIW, the CD format clue was suggested by a co-worker; it sounds just
plausible enough to be true.
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