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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Anyone else able to "sense" whether a solution on a forum will work before fully reading it through? Especially the long-winded ones. (lemmy.ml)

submitted 3 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

17 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Searching gives me the impression there's a million ways to solve the same problem on Linux, and I find myself profiling answers into about four categories at a glance:

Succinct: one or two-liner, a single config file, or just a few clicks
Long-winded song-and-dance: Full train of thought interspersed between various commands and logs, several config files (some of which don't already exist), or installing an obscure package that is no longer maintained
Specific to a desktop environment or version I don't have
Just looks wrong

I'll usually just take solutions from the first category, which almost always works, save for differences between updates and versions. Solutions in the second category also seem to end with a 50% chance of the OP unable to solve the problem. If I'm desperate, I'll try the second one, but it often ends up not working, eventually leading me to come up with a much cleaner solution of my own.

Curious if anyone else does this too and if those one-liners are really better solutions or if it's just confirmation bias.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

Drives me nuts computer illiterate family members praising me for fixing the most basic, basic shit for them. They think its because I have lots of experience. But no, its because I learned the absolute basics of computer literacy and the experience I now have is grounded in that. I don't want praise for "working magic", I want people to fucking spend a small amount of their time learning the most BASIC of IT skills so I don't have to waste my time fixing shit you should know.

Sorry, my frustration might be showing just a little.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Tech illiteracy is 90% of why we have work.

Doing it for free sucks though.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago

My spouse is a tech and tells me he has all the patience for stupidity because he gets paid for it. Once upon a time, I was going to go into IT but turns out that no amount of money was worth it for me because my tolerance for stupidity and willful ignorance is next to zero.

TBF, I still smile and tell family members it's all good, no problem to fix and then vent my inward seething later on to my spouse 😅

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 days ago

I've worked many years in IT support. They computer-illiterate people are everywhere.