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Is it just me...

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sunrat
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Re: Is it just me...

#81 Post by sunrat »

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:
neuraleskimo wrote:Sometimes the person you are arguing with may have serious problems in their life
Well yes, but if they give me crap then they'll get it back double. IMO it's better to inure people to unkindness via exposure in a relatively "safe" environment.
Damn straight! N00bs need to be hazed so they know how to toe the line. Otherwise you end up like certain forums which shall remain nameless becoming flooded with help vampires and grumpy old autocratic mods advising transgressors to get off their lawn.
But there is a line. There's a difference between hazing and downright inhuman bullying of which I see occasional occurrences. As their is a difference between smart questions, and incomprehensible babble which also seems to have increased lately.
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Re: Is it just me...

#82 Post by Bulkley »

sunrat wrote: As their is a difference between smart questions, and incomprehensible babble which also seems to have increased lately.
The "incomprehensible babble" has puzzled me for quite a while. When I see it I wonder if it's a bot or a troll. Some of it is from very confused posters who are often quite defensive of the mess they made.

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Re: Is it just me...

#83 Post by cuckooflew »

Finally, there are some children that visit this forum. Heck, cuckooflew is only eleven years old! ;-) We will see if he catches that.
I did, and I am ashamed of myself, what a bad example of behaviour, "lying" ,...at the time , I was joking , but yes we do get young people here, some might even be as young as that, there are a lot that really do act like they are maybe 12 years old, at best,...besides, age is really mostly a mental state, some people stop maturing at very young age, for a while it is ok, but later you have a very childish adult, and it can be rather annoying when a 35 or 40 year old adult carries on like a 12 year old spoiled brat,..... :mrgreen: I will fix my age in my profile, don't want to be accused of lying.
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Re: Is it just me...

#84 Post by neuraleskimo »

cuckooflew wrote:
Finally, there are some children that visit this forum. Heck, cuckooflew is only eleven years old! ;-) We will see if he catches that.
I did, and I am ashamed of myself, what a bad example of behaviour, "lying" ,...at the time , I was joking... I will fix my age in my profile, don't want to be accused of lying.
I think it’s funny. Joking and lying are different things in my opinion. I wouldn’t change a thing if I were you. Besides, your credibility is solid!

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Re: Is it just me...

#85 Post by stevepusser »

Bulkley wrote:
sunrat wrote: As their is a difference between smart questions, and incomprehensible babble which also seems to have increased lately.
The "incomprehensible babble" has puzzled me for quite a while. When I see it I wonder if it's a bot or a troll. Some of it is from very confused posters who are often quite defensive of the mess they made.
I usually assume it's the result of machine translation. Though there was some self-professed artistic type on the Debian subreddit this week that wanted a really easy to set up version of Debian, but would not consider a derivative because of their "feels" that they were all toys made by bored teenagers, or run by evil empires like Canonical (no middle ground, according to them) (MX Linux devs median age is probably closer to 60, I'm 62) They also kept maintaining that LMDE was based on Ubuntu...
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Re: Is it just me...

#86 Post by Head_on_a_Stick »

sunrat wrote:But there is a line
The line for me is the arrogant attitude of entitlement displayed by a certain type of n00b, usually fresh from Windows. It really winds me up.
deadbang

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Re: Is it just me...

#87 Post by golinux »

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:
sunrat wrote:But there is a line
The line for me is the arrogant attitude of entitlement displayed by a certain type of n00b, usually fresh from Windows. It really winds me up.
You have a long list of windup triggers, HoaS. :mrgreen:
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Re: Is it just me...

#88 Post by Bulkley »

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:The line for me is the arrogant attitude of entitlement displayed by a certain type of n00b, usually fresh from Windows. It really winds me up.
Me too. It can be any other OS. Frequently the noob has installed Testing because he thinks it's an upgrade and doesn't want to use old stuff but has no idea what Testing is. When I see this I don't respond because it is a waste of time.

Every OS has unique advantages. Debian's are stability and easy access to a massive package repository. That doesn't work for everybody nor should it.

If there was one thing I'd like to teach every noob it is to take error messages and plug them into their favourite search engine.

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Re: Is it just me...

#89 Post by kedaha »

Bulkley wrote:Frequently the noob has installed Testing because he thinks it's an upgrade and doesn't want to use old stuff but has no idea what Testing is. When I see this I don't respond because it is a waste of time.
They want to use it as their "daily driver" if they haven't already come across Kali Linux as their "distro" of choice. Now, where on earth did that expression "daily driver" come from?
So the roadmap seems to be is to "migrate" from Windows to Ubuntu or Mint and thence to Debian by means of the unofficial non-free firmware-bearing images "to make things easier on some systems requiring proprietary but redistributable firmware". After learning to edit the sources.list, they promptly "upgrade" to testing or sid. Easy peasy.
Head_on_a_Stick wrote:Oh come on folks, these boards aren't supposed to be all chummy & friendly. Have you ever read the Debian mailing lists? They're a bunch of grumpy, argumentative bastards and I think we should have the same ambience here :mrgreen:
rickh's What is a "Real" Debian User? discussion comes to mind. :wink:
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Re: Is it just me...

#90 Post by sunrat »

"Daily driver" is a fairly descriptive term and much shorter than "the system I use every day and and on which I do most of my stuff". I say daily driver sometimes.
N00bs come here from *buntu or Mint and expect smooth sailing. They need to be reminded that Debian can be more work (and more RTFM) than those.
I'm reticent to help n00bs who try to use testing or unstable. Also tend to avoid topics which have posts from certain annoying people who I have on my foes list. There are only 2 of them but they both seem to have returned recently after hiatus.
I also skip over topics of which I have no idea or experience unlike several certain people including the 2 foes. It's not helpful to do searches for people as they will keep coming back for the same. Teach them to fish, don't give them fish, otherwise it encourages help-vampirism.
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Re: Is it just me...

#91 Post by sickpig »

I suppose some were born as Debian certified experts bypassing the N00b stage altogether. Thus making it ok for them to "haze" N00bs.

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Re: Is it just me...

#92 Post by cuckooflew »

Yes exactly, like my grandfather was.
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Re: Is it just me...

#93 Post by cuckooflew »

It's not helpful to do searches for people as they will keep coming back for the same.
Like everything in life, it depends on the circumstances, etc. But I disagree, not all of them just "come back for the same", yes, I do agree some do, but to others it is helpful, some times it takes a lot of searching , and not just searching, but reading the results to see which ones might be of use, some times the person with the problem may actually be very busy and not have time to spend hours doing searches, other times maybe their "free time", when they can get online is limited, in those cases they appreciate when someone does take the time. Some actually even do say than kyou as well :D
Others really do not have a clue as to how to do a effective search, and giving them some examples, examples of keywords, and how the error message it self is often sufficient , so not only does it help them solve the current problem , maybe, but it also helps them learn how to do better searches their selves,.. of course , yes others take advantage, and just continue not bothering, after a while it is obvious they will never do anything their selves and that is a good time to just ignore them, but that is not a excuse or reason to not help those that need and appreciate the help. ... In any event, and some people might not read this, since they see me as a horrible person, and consider me a "foe", but any way I apologize , I can not be perfect like those others, and any way, I will still continue to try to help others any way I can, even if it is just taking the time to do some searches for them,..the "thank you's" are appreciated. With that said, guess that is all for now. Except, one more thing:
Some times it does seem like we have a lot of members that seem to have nothing better to do then "bash" everyone else's efforts, and "bash" the newbies for not knowing everything, but really it is just a few... for the most part , this forum has a pretty good bunch of active members, and many are very helpful. Maybe "it is just me",that thinks it is helpful to not only tell others to do searches, but to do some for them and teach them.
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Re: Is it just me...

#94 Post by NFT5 »

sunrat wrote:It's not helpful to do searches for people as they will keep coming back for the same. Teach them to fish, don't give them fish, otherwise it encourages help-vampirism.
I think that sunrat's on the money here. Doing searches for people is not teaching them how to fish. Worse, it's easily taken as being condescending and doesn't encourage any change in behaviour. I note the recent return of what is probably the most prolific help vampire I've ever seen and, after nearly 400 posts, nothing has changed, other than the topics have become slightly more technical. What's more notable, in my view anyway, is that he hasn't once given anything back to the forum by way of help to others, nor has he ever said "thanks" for the help he's been given.

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Re: Is it just me...

#95 Post by cuckooflew »

Yea, but like I said, it depends on the situation. I have noticed one, actually more then 1, not sure for sure if it is the same one your referring to or not though. So guess I am a horrible person, so be it. Some times telling them " I did this search for you " is also enough of a hint , it might be taken as condescending , that is fine with me, logic would be to start doing your own searches, if it is condescending when some one does it for you and tells you they did.
But any way, I apologize again, for not being so perfect as others, besides that I enjoy doing the searches, I learn a lot in the process. If the moderators or admins decide that it is evil to do searches for others , they can all ways delete any posts that are results of doing that.
Of course just ignoring posts that are easily answered just doing a search, but , then 98% of the posts would be getting ignored. And the clueless newbie would never know that someone found the answer just by doing a search. It might be better though to just suggest that they do a search, and leave it at that, but that is condescending as well, and almost all ways they will say they did. I have better things to do though then arguing about if it is good or bad to do searches for someone, it is pointless and it depends on the situation. It will not change my way of doing things any way. I also will give a stranger in need or asking for a meal, (we have a restaurant) Some people think that giving them a meal or a handout is bad, and it just encourages them to keep "begging", but I just don't see it that way, so the same, I help them , and let them go on down the road, I could not live with myself very well if I turned them down, and just let them go hungry,.. I suppose that is different , but not really. Of course for those that don't want to help with searches, that is fine as well,nobody is obligated to do that.
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Re: Is it just me...

#96 Post by NFT5 »

No need to apologise, I admire your altruism. I was speaking from my own experience as a Moderator on another forum over the last 10 years. The rules there are quite strict and we found, in the early days, that there was a fine line between being perceived as helpful or antagonistic. The RTFM approach didn't work, nor did actually doing the searches. More helpful was something like "Try a search with [this parameter]". That way we were telling them how to do it, without actually doing it for them. We used to draw a lot of criticism for what was seen as an officious, overly strict application of the rules and warnings and bannings were common. These days I don't think that I've issued more than one warning in the last year and the only bannings have been spammers. More importantly we've regained a reputation as a source of good knowledge and the community spirit has returned.

Returning to altruism, its problem is that it has a cost. As you'd appreciate, you can only hand out so many free meals before it impacts on your business. It's sad to see people highly motivated to help others burn out - certainly happened here, and lots of other places, many times in the past.

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Re: Is it just me...

#97 Post by sunrat »

cuckooflew wrote: Others really do not have a clue as to how to do a effective search, and giving them some examples, examples of keywords, and how the error message it self is often sufficient , so not only does it help them solve the current problem , maybe, but it also helps them learn how to do better searches their selves,..
I too appreciate your efforts and this above is IMHO the best way to help. People who need to be fed answers are never going to develop powers of logical deduction which are the core of using Debian most efficiently. Teach them how to find answers. Everyone who helps regularly had to learn how at some time.
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Re: Is it just me...

#98 Post by neuraleskimo »

Going back to what sunrat said about his/her foe list, I would be honored to be on your foe list. Just kidding. There is one person I have seen who I have a low opinion of. Most due to his demeanor. I would hope that someone would feel free to tell me I am a jerk. Ok, you all can taunt me mercilessly. But, I do think it is fair to say don’t be a jerk and to say it without being mean.

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Re: Is it just me...

#99 Post by cuckooflew »

Out of context , this won't make sense, but to some one it will,...any way
I got drifting off topic , and decided to cut the text, and post it here, probably it is just me,
But in any event, I am going to take a few days off and do some other things, considerably more important then what goes on here, .. this is what I wrote:
but after all said and done, do what you want. But then why ask for advice , if and when you don't intend to use it ?....Not saying that shoe fits you, just saying, we do get a lot of that, people ask us how, and when we tell them, do it this way, then they come back with, oh but I don't want to do it that way, I need to do it this way,... Why do people ask , when they have no intention of using any of the answers ? Why do they get so up set when we suggest trying to do a search ?, sorry, guess that is another topic. Which goes back to why I see it is best if I just don't post any more, a stupid old fart like me does not have anything useful to say any way. Have a good day.
Yes, I know I am a real arse, and sometimes not very nice at all, that's the way I am, but any way, I going to stay away for a few days, maybe longer,..who knows ?
Time is running out now, for me, and it is time to go take care of real life stuff, ...guess I have wasted enough time on this,...it all was just to pass the time anyway.
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Re: Is it just me...

#100 Post by Deb-fan »

^ Absolutely, if you cease enjoying something, quit doing it or when you have more important things, definitely the same. Whatever you/we do, nothing wrong with doing it on our terms when possible. This is not all that serious of a thing and is meant to be entertaining or positive, at least should be. You can still do as much or little as you like @cuckooflew but when it becomes more of a hassle than it's worth, nothing wrong with taking a break.

*<wrote this before reading your @cuckooflew's post>*

Some things I've noticed which help at least in terms of forum burn-out. Helps to take a break, take a day or two, if you have a tendency towards being a Nix forum addict(I've gone through such phases) sometimes helps imposing a daily limit too, 3-5 posts on a given forum/dy and then doing something else.

Also think it can help to keep in mind we're all volunteers, just cause someone is asking for help on something or requesting others share info or things they've learned about something doesn't mean anyone is obligated to help them. Definitely helps to recognize when you're taking something too seriously. The fate of the world does not rest on some nix noob figuring out why some trivial thing isn't working the way they prefer. Personally been trying to stick to threads which for whatever reason pique some interest, also like to see the person is honestly trying to learn and research, making a reasonable effort themselves, things such as providing basic info, hardware, OS version involved, software etc etc. If they can't be bothered to do basic common sense things like that, I don't see much reason to care about their problems. If it's something they could've/should've easily figured out via search engine search, then again ... am not bothering wasting time explaining anything to them or doing a here let me google that for you type of affair.

Though also try to shoot for the if you have nothing nice &-or constructive to say, why bother posting ? Often have started typing out a scathing, mega-flame response to somebody I feel is being an azzhat and go ah, screw it, nothing good will come of this, so what's the point ... Abandon post. Same for in real life, only a practical principle to try to live by, negativity spreads, can be contagious, so even when having a bad dy make more effort to be nice and put out positive karma for whoever I come in contact with.

Yep, there's always going to be nixers which rub others wrong. With the way many such types conduct themselves, the total lack of competence, basic common sense and reasoning nor anything resembling making reasonable effort, often see the give a fish vs teach to fish thing mentioned, for these type of nixers, feel more like they should be fed to the fish or like the mafia says, should be sleeping with the fishes. Surely no great loss to humanity ... Ah but whatever. A few nixers here I never even bother reading anything they post or threads they've started cause I know it'll only irritate me. Bottomline it's my-your choice and nothing wrong with simply scrolling on by and skip the irritation. :D

Now to end with a positive.

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