[aklug] Re: Basic Linux information

On Wed, 16 Sep 2009, James Zuelow wrote:

> Here we finally get to the meat of the question Jon asked:
>
>
>> What is our goal?
>
>> Jon

Precisely.

> If you want to be a group of hackers, programmers, and generally awesome te=
> chnical wizards, then RTFM is great. Of course, even then it is helpful to=
> tell said luser where the FM is in the first place or that it exists. (No=
> t everyone thinks to do a `man .k5login`) I see lots of RTFM replies that =
> assume a level of knowledge that just isn't there, leaving poor luser to wa=
> nder in the desert until someone takes pity on them or they give up.

Agreed. Which is why the #1 thing any UNIX newbie should learn is the man
system. Which means tools like apropos (or 'man -k') do, and what sections
are for what. And for those inbred GNU programmers ;-) how to use info.

> If you want to be a teaching group, building a community of users, you will=
> need some patience to get said users past the neophyte stage and into the =
> stage where they are productively using Linux. Not necessarily scripting t=
> heir own encrypted rsync backups, but just using some sort of office suite =
> in Gnome or KDE, watching the odd DVD and being happy.
>
> Which approach is going to be more successful is open to debate. (I guess =
> since Ubuntu has been a dismal failure, while the Slackware 12 release just=
> about crashed the internet shows that most new Linux users prefer the RTFM=
> approach.)
>
> The idea of splitting the mailing list has come up before -- aklug-tech vs =
> aklug-discuss. Maybe you guys should discuss that again at the next Friday=
> night, since it seems that the group is split.
>
> My personal opinion is that since the group is named the Alaska Linux **Use=
> rs** Group, you should at least make some effort at accomodating new users =
> who might need some hand-holding. But as a non-Anchorageite I'm not sure m=
> y opinion carries any weight with the group. :)

I'm all for accomodating new users and the merely curious. But what is the
focus? It shouldn't be to Tier 1 helpdesk for local Linux users, it should
be breeding the next generation of hackers.

My $0.10. Inflation is a bitch.

         --Arthur Corliss
           Live Free or Die
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Received on Wed Sep 16 15:38:24 2009