Good Help is hard to find!

[elmie]

Recently I got my hand into Gentoo 1.2 iso CD. Being my first attempt at linux and all that, I have no idea what I was doing... with friends and other people telling newbie start with something like mandrake, pfft mandrake!!
With my stubbun mind I set out to install Gentoo for the first time.. printed the installation guide from www.gentoo.org and off I go! I followed it word for word, reboot, presto it boots!
Now the fun part..... graphical interface aka gui or in linux case X server!
hrm, what make pretty pictures in linux? with abit of time and research, I printed out the desktop guide also. I emerged kde and to my amuse, was very easy. although I have no idea what I was doing.. I just followed the guide. great!

Now time for other stuff, Gnome, Openssh , apache and some other odd programs which I needed like openoffice and ut2003 for relexation. during some complexity and trouble shooting I add to go through I when to a #gentoo irc channel for help..
Hrm, need I say more.... in general is a very good channel, problem is that, help was scarce in there...
until an OP called Phoenix came along.. he was great, he actually gave actual help, not like man command or RTFM.. I mean, who actually understand the man details and Manuals?? I'm a newbie U know.. that stuff is not in plain english you know....... So what I'm trying to say is that, to give actual help to newbie (n00b) plz don't tell them to man or RTFM, coz it will only confuse them. I just think people who go around telling others to man or RTFM probably don't know them self, or couldn't be bother to help... if ya don't want to help just don't say anything!!!

[rfgarcia]

Now here goes my question. Why you have to ask for help when you probably have that help well documented in manuals, howtos, tutorials and such?

If you can't find that info, well, ask then, but if someone tells you to read the manual or whatever the most probably thing is that he's watching at the info you are searching for, or knows that the info isn't difficult to find at all. At least me.
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Ruben.

[b-llwyd]

A word out of nowhere:

A MAN page is always good when you already know what it all means. It makes alot of sense, and the jargong isn't -that- difficult after all, mm?

But when you're new to something, even the most well structured and thought out MAN page could be confusing.

That's how I feel.

ps. And by god, haven't I cursed enough at computer/tech books...can't they just tell us How To Get It Running, instead of filling page after page with concept thoughts, history, comparisons, blah?

[elmie]

why ask?? well normally ppl ask about things that they can't find info about.. or they just can't understand the man and manuals!

[pjp]

Knowledge doesn't happen overnight. Reading the man pge, or manual, then asking: "I read X, but don't quite understand what it meant by blah blah" is more considerate than "I'm a newb, someone tell me what I have to do next". Making an effort first before you expect someone to give you step-by-step instructions will go a long way.
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Quis separabit? Quo animo?

[aardvark]

Only when it is stuff that clearly comes forward in the gentoo install manual or desktop manual, I am inclided to put in a RTFM remark . The Gentoo docs are just sooo great and very readable for anyone that knows appx what linux is etc. I think reading through the excellent install doc in the beginning convinced me to give gentoo a try. They make Gentoo very doable even for a newbie. Those more specific problems that arise later on are often well solved in the forums.
A lot however can ve solved with common sense and again: reading some of those other gentoo docs.