this post was submitted on 31 May 2024
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    [–] [email protected] 95 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (5 children)

    Unhelpful Linux User Archetypes:

    The Configurator: All problems are configuration problems. The fact that a user has a problem means they configured their machine incorrectly. All help requests are an opportunity to lecture others about configuration files.

    The lumberjack: Insists on logs no matter how simple or basic the question. "How do I get the working directory in the terminal?" -Sorry, I can't help you unless you post your log. "What does the -r flag do?" -You need to post a log for me to answer that question. "Is there a way to make this service start at boot?" -We have no way of knowing unless you post your log. When a user posts their log, the lumberjack's work is done. No need to reply to the thread any further.

    The Anacdata Troubleshooter: Failed to develop a theory of mind during childhood. Thinks their machine is representative of all machines. If they don't have an issue, the user is lying about the issue.

    The Jargon Master: Uses as much jargon as possible in forum posts. If a user doesn't know each and every term, that's on them. If you did not commit to mastering every aspect of a piece of software before asking for help, were you even trying to solve the problem?

    The Hobby Horse Jockey: All problems are caused by whatever thing the contributor does not like. Graphics driver issue? Snaps. Computer won't post? Obviously, Snaps. Machine getting too hot? Snaps. Command 'flatpack' not found? Oh you better believe snaps did that.

    The Pedantfile: Gets mad because everyone asks their questions the wrong way. Writes a message letting the user know they asked their question wrong. Message usually appears within a minute or two of someone providing a solution to the user.

    [–] [email protected] 52 points 5 months ago (1 children)

    The Repeatophobic: If a question vaguely reminds them of a previously posted question, they become enraged and insist the new thread be locked.

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    [–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago (3 children)

    yeah I felt this. I'm having a specific issue with my mint install that I can't figure out for the life of me and no one has any answers (or bothered to leave any comments on the forum...)

    [–] [email protected] 9 points 5 months ago (1 children)

    Could try the approach of posting a rant that mint can't even do what you're trying to do with it, therefore it sucks and anyone that likes it is wrong and a bad person and it's easier to just deal with Windows.

    [–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago

    holy shit that might actually work

    [–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago (1 children)

    Hit me! I'll probably fail, but I wanna try and help anyway.

    [–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (7 children)

    edit: I love y'all for helping me so much but I somehow broke tf out of my mint install on the flash drive. I have no idea how. it literally says "something went seriously wrong" in the BIOS and then shuts the PC off when I try to launch the mint OS. gonna do a clean install... again...

    oh boy

    ok so I'm running a mint cinnamon edge install on my laptop, booted off a flash drive for now. currently, my biggest issue is the mic. Presently, whenever I try to use my mic, it instead takes whatever audio output my system is currently producing (be that music from YouTube or system sounds) and thinks that that is the input. it does not however, pick up anything with my voice. this happens both with my built in laptop speaker and when I connect my Bluetooth headphones and try to use the mic on those.

    I've fiddled with pavucontrol settings for a while and wasn't able to fix it. it seems like it's not detecting my built in mic, saying it's unplugged or something, but that doesn't explain why I have the same issue with my headphones.

    I'm thinking it has something to do with the fact that it's a live session from a flash drive instead of a full install on my PC, but I'm hesitant to do a full install without finding fixes for issues I might run into first.

    if you can figure something out, that'd be incredible and I would thank you sincerely and owe you one; if not that's fine, I really don't know what I'm gonna do other than take the plunge and full install, hoping that'll fix it

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    [–] [email protected] -1 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

    I'm a proponent of RTFM, (real documentation has a lot more thought put into it then some random response you would get on IRC or a mailing list, and it's rude to ignore the effort the documentation author put into real documentation) but I always link the user to the appropriate documentation instead of just telling them off.

    [–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago (1 children)

    If you want to support that, a good first step would be to improve TFM, because much of it is far too dense to actually read. Technical writing, knowing how to summarize things through human knowledge,, is a critical skill for tech businesses, and most open-source programmers lack it.

    [–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

    The closed-source devs I've worked with also lack it.

    This is why the humanities are important.

    [–] [email protected] 14 points 5 months ago

    damn if this isnt an amazing format

    [–] [email protected] 23 points 5 months ago (2 children)

    This kind of behavior mystifies me. I get that it can be frustrating to deal with lazy folks, but especially with how shit google/ddg are nowadays, when people are looking for help and are met with this kind of treatment it’s pretty discouraging! I’ve been an Arch user for about a decade, and sometimes I run into problems that should be googleable but aren’t.

    It’s especially concerning, considering how tech illiterate the next generation is. They’re very used to walled gardens, and if they can barely manage a MacBook, they’re going to really struggle starting with things like the command line.

    Lighting a candle leaves you with two lit candles. There’s no reason to gatekeep knowledge.

    [–] [email protected] 17 points 5 months ago (1 children)

    If 10% of newb questions were just answered plainly in forums then google would index those and these easy solutions would be actually google-able. Nerds gatekeeping basic info by forcing people deep into man pages to find the needle in the haystack argument that is used for 99% of commands surrounded by a bajillion arguments that are basically dev-tools used for bash scripts make adopting to a CLI mega frustrating.

    Most forum advice is about obscure driver issues for some random piece of hardware or "help! update broke my shit" type of posts.

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