Explaining FreeBSD features

[Andrew L. Gould]

On Thursday 23 June 2005 12:16 pm, Johnson David wrote:
> From: cali [mailto:calculus at softhome.net]
>
> > The idea is, the newbie gets repeatedly told "RTFM", so that
> > eventually they get the idea that they must work it out for
> > themselves because they develop this inner fear of asking for help
> > and being ridiculed, ie they don't want to portray themselves as a
> > "lamer". Usually it works.
>
> If by "works", you mean people leave the community, then you are
> correct. We all know what "F" in "RTFM" means. While we may not say
> it with those words anymore, we still often say it with the same
> abusive attitude. It's far more productive to say "RTM" than "RTFM".
>
> It is an unfortunate fact that many other communities have trained
> their users to never read their manuals. Some communities don't even
> have decent manuals to read. We should not be punishing these users
> for their ignorance on the proper means to ask questions. Let them
> "RTM". The next time tell them "RTM on page 29". If they say they've
> read the manual but haven't, tell them "sorry", but don't abuse them.
> They're not lying so much as doing what they've been trained to do.
> Only when they persist in not reading the manual so you flame them a
> new orafice. And then do it off list.
>
> David

I have, on occasion, used "RTFM", ignoring the "F"; but not thinking 
about whether the reader would ignore it as well -- poor form on my 
part.  I will certainly drop the "F" in the future.

Thanks for the lesson.  ;-)

Andrew Gould