Date: Sun, 8 Mar 1998 10:47:37 +1100 From: Sue Blake <sue2@welearn.com.au> To: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: RTFN (was: What to do next?) Message-ID: <19980308104737.05529@welearn.com.au> In-Reply-To: <3.0.3.32.19980305180558.006fe258@mail.plstn1.sfba.home.com>; from Ludwig Pummer on Thu, Mar 05, 1998 at 06:05:58PM -0800 References: <3.0.32.19980305171502.007b04b0@pop.flash.net> <3.0.32.19980305171502.007b04b0@pop.flash.net> <19980306095633.45859@freebie.lemis.com> <3.0.3.32.19980305180558.006fe258@mail.plstn1.sfba.home.com>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
> >> dial ok!
> >> login ok!
> >> ppp on anthony> packet mode
> >> ppp on anthony>
> >> PPP on anthony>
> >>
> >> Now my question is what do I do next to have access to the Internet?
> >Nothing.
> Exactly.
> If you'd read up on PPP (ahem ahem), you'd have learned that you switch to
> another vty and do whatever internet stuff you want to do.
OK, a dummy-spit is overdue and this is as good an excuse as any.
Where in what document is that stage explained? I spent 20 minutes looking
just now and couldn't find it in any of the places I looked. The only thing
worse than finding something not documented is trying to work it out from
the wrong document and giving up. So often we see elaborate instructions on
configuring bells and whistles while basic usage instructions are either
hidden deep in all those words or simply overlooked because hackers don't
need them and newbies don't get far enough to advertise their stupidity.
As an example, I reinstalled FreeBSD several times because when it got to
the part where it asked "myhostname" no matter what I put in there it
got stuck and wouldn't proceed to the next installation question.
I'd read everything available six times through and nothing had informed me
that this is what you see when the installation has successfully completed.
I went back to OS/2 and read this mailing list and didn't understand the
answers and didn't want to be one of the "RTFM" rejects so I had a fully
working FreeBSD system sitting there for ages before finding someone open
minded enough to help me work out what hadn't gone wrong. Was my decision
not to ask here the right one? I'd like to think not.
Everyone: If you want someone to stop asking for help it'd be kinder to
just say so or shut up. Nobody forces you to answer questions you don't like.
Once you criticise people who ask questions you open yourself to criticism
of your answers. Whether that's deemed heresy or fair play, it will happen.
A little tolerance and understanding can save someone an awful lot more
trouble than your slight inconvenience of dreaming up a witty or cryptic
answer to a boring email without bothering to do a little of the same
research you demand of those less well equipped to do it.
Reading documentation is essential, but it does not guarantee understanding,
even if the relevant manual is identified and found. "RTFM" has its place
when full RTFM details are given, but abuse of "RTFM" reduces its validity.
In some cases a useful retort might be RTFN (Remember the f***ing newbie).
Their numbers are increasing and so will their use of this mailing list.
Some people here cannot always remember what it feels like to be earnest but
ignorant and I wish they'd leave the screen clear for the ones who can.
--
Regards,
-*Sue*-
find / -name "*.conf" |more
To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org
with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?19980308104737.05529>