Quality of Forum Threads

[thanatos_incarnate]

Fellow forum users,

I'm noticing a steep decline in the quality of the forum threads here.
While this has produced some great comic relief, the truth is that mostly it's
just annoying to see a thread where someone clearly didn't even bother to
do the slightest bit of research before asking their question. And when it's done,
subjects don't reflect the content -- which in turn is vague or hard to read.
Please, for the sake of keeping a sane and functioning board, heed the following
advice:

1. Read this great advice on how to ask questions the smart way
2. Take a look at this wonderful guide for beginners on this forum.
3. Please, search the net first
-first the forums
-then other websites with your favourite Internet search machine
4. Then ask questions following the advice in 1

Thank you for your time!

[dasein]

I've noticed what you've noticed, but I traditionally attribute these short-term spikes in apparent global stupidity ("I typed in some commands but nothing happened. How to fix?") to trolls.

I could be totally wrong (obviously), but my thinking goes like this. Long runs of postings from folks who lack electrically detectable brain activity are just as unlikely, statistically speaking, as long runs of thoughtful, well-articulated posts from folks who are flummoxed over a genuinely nontrivial problem.

I've noticed with some interest that several recent posters pointedly ignore really good suggestions--almost as if they know that those suggestions will work, so they don't dare even acknowledge them. Instead, they launch into a whole new tangent of utterly moronic questions. ("Unable to log in after unplugging keyboard. What's wrong with Debian anyway??") Such things may happen occasionally, but when they happen several times in a row, I can't help but think it's not a coincidence.

But as I said, statistically-grounded, but still just a hunch.

[Bulkley]

I've noticed what you've noticed, but I traditionally attribute these short-term spikes in apparent global stupidity ("I typed in some commands but nothing happened. How to fix?") to trolls.
. . .
But as I said, statistically-grounded, but still just a hunch.

I have been thinking the same: trolls.

[Crewp]

I've noticed what you've noticed, but I traditionally attribute these short-term spikes in apparent global stupidity ("I typed in some commands but nothing happened. How to fix?") to trolls.
. . .
But as I said, statistically-grounded, but still just a hunch.

I have been thinking the same: trolls.[

+1

[geekosupremo]

I think the world is getting dummer.

Impossible, stupidity is infinite.

:put cone hat back on and slumps back into corner:

[HuangLao]

Its nothing unique to this forum...most Linux forums, heck most forums in general are trending this way.

I agree that it is a result of the general dumbing down of society.

[roseway]

I think the world is getting dummer.

So people can't even spell dumber

[NFT5]

Its nothing unique to this forum...most Linux forums, heck most forums in general are trending this way.

I agree that it is a result of the general dumbing down of society.

Agree that most forums are trending this way.

However, it's not (IMHO) a case of the world getting dumber but that technology is allowing those who previously did not access places like this, to now do so.

Curious observation. I have been involved with another forum for many years and we used to get a rash of stupid question threads by noobs roughly monthly. We eventually realised that the occurrence coincided with the full moon. Believe it or not, it happened every time.

[HuangLao]

That is very interesting.

Must be alot of full moons the last few years.

[spacex]

I think the world is getting dummer.

So people can't even spell dumber

Not everyone knows english well. Anyway, I agree. Not trolls, just lazy inexperienced people. Those that some may call stupid, or dumb...

[No_windows]

I think the world is becoming a more frustrating place to live, in general. Frustrated people often are not the best at problem solving, asking for help in a sensible manner, or even receiving help.

[sgosnell]

I read several Linux forums, and it's pretty much the same all over. I attribute it to people fleeing Windows. All they know is Windows, and they don't know how to adjust to a society which values individual research and technical knowledge. They're just poor lost souls who've always been in the Windows ecosystem. They'll learn, or they'll go back to Windows.

[kedaha]

Just as relevant as properly-framed questions to the quality of forum threads are properly-framed answers. Novice questioners may be referred to How to ask Questions the smart way and What we expect you have already done but some more experienced users might do well to read, or re-read How to Help Someone use a Computer.
Although good questions may have declined, no one can consistently give the best answers; but when some questioners, dismissively, don't even have the courtesy to reply, let alone thank others, for answering their posts, one feels little inclination to help further, even when one knows the solution.

[steve_v]

The thing that's bugging me at the moment: Why are so many running Testing, when most of them appear to have no idea how to debug the inevitable problems?
Tempted to just answer every "I'm running Stretch and my desktop went away, Halp." type question (here and elsewhere) with "Don't run testing".

[dasein]

The thing that's bugging me at the moment: Why are so many running Testing, when most of them appear to have no idea how to debug the inevitable problems?

+1

Tempted to just answer every "I'm running Stretch and my desktop went away, Halp." type question (here and elsewhere) with "Don't run testing".

+∞
That's become my default answer every time I see someone whine about breakage in Testing. If Testing didn't break, its very existence would be utterly pointless.