Just saw this interesting opinion article about how abusive Linux snobs are
to Linux newbies who want to give the OS a chance.
Well, being one of those snobs I consider the article very biased, it also
totally ignores the background as to why some of these people present
themselves in the way they do and also seems to totally ignore the actual
conversation.
On the topic of Linux its safe to say that many of the bigger distributions
come with many documentation. Not all of this is of high quality but when it
comes to basic issues like starting/stopping programs, logging in, selecting
window managers, etc. you can find it all in either the userguides or the many
FAQs out there. A key issue to this mentioned problem is that many people are
willing to try another OS (especially since they obviously heard many good
stories about it) but don't seem to be willing to spend much time on learning
it.
While that is their own choice to make its becoming annoying when it becomes
obvious that they're trying to use other people as a substitute for spending
the time, and in many cases get totally outraged when someone suggest that they
actually spend some time on their basic skills.
When taking a look at that example about the webserver ("how do I start process
daemons like a web server" / "Hi jackass, RTFM and stop wasting our time trying
to help you children learn."). Starting to call people names like this is
something I wouldn't approve off, but in many cases I would also respond in an
RTFM type of answer. Probably in the likes of "use one of the rc.d scripts
found in /etc/init.d/ RTFM". There are many people who don't like such an
answer and immediatly feel highly insulted.
In most cases, but thats just my opinion, the problem starts the moment that
someone starts asking about certain issues while clearly showing that he hasn't
spend one minute on reading / looking for any basics. That is an absolute basis
for snappy remarks. Some start scolding, others become cynical... Personally I
can understand this quite well; some people spend quite some time on writing
and maitaining documentation and these days its rather common for newbies to
start by totally ignoring this. Ofcourse not everytime, but from a personal
observation I do see a growing amount of people who approach it this way.
While I respect the "linux snobs" I also can understand the motivation behind
some of the newbies. They're obviously used to Windows-like environments where
most things can be done without the need for any manual. When it comes to user
interfaces I think that Microsoft has done a remarkable job; its IMO undenyable
that whenever you put a newbie behind an environment like Windows XP or the
likes it doesn't take them too long to grasp its basics. And when you read many
stories about how great and easy Linux is (
www.linspire.com -> 'what is Linux'
-> "Linux is... Virus & Spyware Free! Ultra Affordable! Super Stable! There is
a growing interest in using Linux on the desktop computer, and these days it's
easier than ever to try.".
Lets say I'm a little better than the average newbie and I actually use Google
to get more information: (
http://www.google.com/search?q=linux. I get
linux.org, linux.com, redhat.com, debian.org, etc.). Let the confusion begin!
Linux is a free unix-like OS. Good, Linux OS. But I have RedHat Linux, Debian
Linux, Linux Linux....
By the time they finally found a distribution and managed to burn it to CD I'm
also quite sure they lost all the will to do any more reading and would prefer
some actual action
So concluding: I don't think it is fair to speak of "Linux snobs" and "Linux
newbies/cluebies" per facto. It depends on simply way too much different
factors. And for the record; I too think that the 'smart questions page' is an
excellent piece of work.
I hope no one here ventures into that much rudeness when it comes to java.
Rudeness is in the eyes of the beholder. These days people can get upset when
you point them to the documentation. But I do agree that some of the examples
pointed out on that website are over the top. Still, I am a bit sceptical about
the whole story.
The reason why I don't think this will happen in the Java groups, at least not
in that extend, is that Java is already something beyond your Joe Doe computer
user. Its not about someone who bought a PC, learned his way around Windows and
now wants something "better" and expects it to be just as Windows.
Instead your target audience is now a group of people who are mostly a little
further with computer knowledge than that. Ofcourse that too is generalizing,
even with Java you encounter people who want to to "do Java" but immediatly
display a total lack of understanding and willingless.
Perhaps the approach is still friendlier in here, in most cases they tend to
get ignored. I'm pretty positive that in other groups / forums such people
might also get a little other response.