LJR or Linux uber elite?

[cloverm]

Are we moving away from helping new Linux users to become an "Elite" Linux user's site. If a newbie dares to ask a question about how to install a piece of software, gets lectured about the software he is trying to install, instead of giving him instructions. Or if someone asks about some GUI tool, the answer is usually "how you dare to use a GUI tool when you can do it from the command line".

There are a lot of threads about advanced topics, show your high level of knowledge there. But try to answer newbie questions the same way you expected to get help when you were one, by step-by-step instructions or give them a link that's helpful. But please stop putting the person down even if the question sounds dumb to you. If your reply is not helpful, please don't reply at all.

[Feztaa]

Are we moving away from helping new Linux users to become an "Elite" Linux user's site.

Helping newbies is a great idea, but in the end it's just a hassle to try and help somebody that cannot help themselves. Installing "tar.gz software" is trivial, and there are probably countless places that somebody could go to find out (chief among these being google). If somebody is not willing to search for the answer themselves, giving them the answer is almost useless (it's the whole idea of "give a man a fish / teach a man to fish&quot.

This site is called LinuxJunior, not LinuxIdiot. If somebody has searched, read and experimented and cannot find the answer, good for him; he deserves a hand up. If somebody just comes on and says "I am stupid, give me the answers", he deserves nothing.

[cloverm]

Helping newbies is a great idea, but in the end it's just a hassle to try and help somebody that cannot help themselves. Installing "tar.gz software" is trivial, and there are probably countless places that somebody could go to find out (chief among these being google). If somebody is not willing to search for the answer themselves, giving them the answer is almost useless (it's the whole idea of "give a man a fish / teach a man to fish&quot.

This site is called LinuxJunior, not LinuxIdiot. If somebody has searched, read and experimented and cannot find the answer, good for him; he deserves a hand up. If somebody just comes on and says "I am stupid, give me the answers", he deserves nothing.

Like I said, if you don't want to help, that's fine, but in that case, don't answer at all.

LinuxJunior...

Well I don't consider myself to be l33t - and I like to be helpful..

[coltrane]

snicker ;D ;D

[Compunuts]

Feztaa,

I too hate the kind of people who will ask questions without searched the answer themself and being a pest and demanded to give him only the answers .....

BUT .........

In the case you mentioned, the guy is pretty new ( at least to me and I don't care if he uses a new screen name to disguise it ).... Give him a break .... Show him how to use Google and how to search for answers .... You will be surprised at how many people do not know how to use search engines effectively ( I don't mean just entering texts )... Some of my friends don't even know what Google does ( they are too used to Yahoo!, Lycos and others ) ...

Helping newbies is a great idea, but in the end it's just a hassle to try and help somebody that cannot help themselves.

He hasn't show enough igonrance ( if he has any ) that he is the kind of guy yet ....

Installing "tar.gz software" is trivial, and there are probably countless places that somebody could go to find out (chief among these being google).

You might be surprised how I wasn't able to figure out how to mount floppy and stuff for more than three months even though I've read manuals after manuals ..... Now there are GUI tools but back then, there was not .....

(it's the whole idea of "give a man a fish / teach a man to fish&quot.

Agree ...

But you havent' shown him how to fish yet ..... You were telling him that learning how to fish is not for him yet ...

This site is called LinuxJunior, not LinuxIdiot.

If you don't know how to do something, you can be an idiots too .....

If somebody has searched, read and experimented and cannot find the answer, good for him; he deserves a hand up.

Which you haven't shown ......

If somebody just comes on and says "I am stupid, give me the answers", he deserves nothing.

Show me the quote where he demanded that .....

Like I said, if you don't want to help, that's fine, but in that case, don't answer at all.

I agree ... There are a lot of topics that I just skip even though I *may* know the answer but believe that someone is taking advantage of my time or that I just point them out to search for it ... Be it google or freshmeat ..... Sometime the thing I know but you may not know it eventhough it's very ovrious to me and vice vesa .....

[Ashcrow]

I have to agree about this. While playing mentor or super linux guy is good and fun to do (even to newbies) we really should controll it and not present ourselves in such a way that we scare off new memebers or people form Linux.

Maybe there should be a section for Linux Uber Eliete or something.

Are we moving away from helping new Linux users to become an "Elite" Linux user's site.

we're not, just Feztaa

If a newbie dares to ask a question about how to install a piece of software, gets lectured about the software he is trying to install, instead of giving him instructions.

huge problem cuz for newbies it helps to feed that negative image linux users have about being whiny nerds in the eyes of most regular PC users.

Or if someone asks about some GUI tool, the answer is usually "how you dare to use a GUI tool when you can do it from the command line".

some members on this board simply do not have respect for other's people choices of software. i have my opinions on many softwarepackages and many distro's but i'll never look at somebody the wrong way just because he/she uses that softwarepackage or distro. It's really easy: let people use what they wanna use and don't bitch about it. When i said this to one of those members (not on the board though) he even called me a communist because of it

But try to answer newbie questions the same way you expected to get help when you were one, by step-by-step instructions or give them a link that's helpful. But please stop putting the person down even if the question sounds dumb to you. If your reply is not helpful, please don't reply at all.

i couldn't agree more

[boblucci]

this is what they guy wrote in this thread, i thought i was worthy of helping him whith out any question. He didnt say give me the answers

[qutoe] from klrmar
Can someone please point me to a very basic step by step an explanation of how to install software with the tar.gz extension? I have been hitting my head against a wall trying to figure this out since I got Linux working on my computer about two months ago without success. I have several books on Linux (Linux for Dummies, Idiot's Guide, Mandrake User Guide, etc.) but I must be too dumb or too much of an idiot becuase I cannot under what I should be doing to install tar.gz software.

Also, I could use some help on how to find and then run new applications once the software is installed. I have several cd with new programs I would like to try but I cannot figure out how. I can mount them and find the program I want but once I click on a tar.gz I quickly fall on my face. klrmar
[/quote]

As you can see all he wanted to to be pointed to a basic how to, he did not ask for the answer, he just wanted help.

This is the reason i left LNO because when i started out i didnt know who to start X or get my modem working and i would post and people would tell me to RTFM and maybe you should stick to windows. I swore that when i came here i would never do that to someone, and the fact that people do THAT here really pisses me off , if you dont want to help get the hell off this board and let others who want to help do just that

sorry if that is harsh but thats the way i feel. People come here for help not to be belittled for asking the question.

Boblucci... I couldn't agree more...