Subject:
Re: Getting Linux Help HOWTO -- revised
From:
Rob McGee ####@####.####
Date:
1 Jul 2004 00:08:29 -0000
Message-Id: <20040701000826.GD8322@obrien.1984.lan>
On Thu, Jun 24, 2004 at 09:47:05PM -0400, Ray Benjamin wrote:
> > I don't think it should state that emphasis is on IRC. I think it
> > should cover all means of getting help (including IRC). I didn't see
> > searching posts on mailing lists and newsgroups such as Google's groups.
>
> The original HOWTO was primarily focused on getting help via IRC and
> that focus has shifted. Thank you for pointing that out. I do have a
> section about using Google to find help and a section on using site
> forums and mailing lists, although they can probably use some
> improvement. Any suggestions are welcome.
IME although IRC can provide "faster" responses, you're less likely to
get expert assistance there as opposed to Usenet. More of the blind
leading the blind (which also occurs a great deal on Usenet,
unfortunately.)
I would suggest to business users ("suits") who may come across your
work that they should consider hiring a professional. A good consultant
(if that is not an oxymoron ;) can help cut costs in any business by
deploying Linux-based servers. Our firm is soon going to begin deploying
Linux workstations, too (and I'm sure others are already doing so.) It
makes a great deal of sense, when you look at the money being spent on
IT these days. See how much of it goes down the ratholes of viruses,
spyware, Windows instability, and software licensing! Sickening!
I once saw a consultants list online. Sorry, I can't remember the link,
but it shouldn't be hard to find, and you could link to that. The risk
in hiring someone is that it's difficult to judge competence based on
credentials. I'm the most competent professional I know personally
(although I know a few others on the 'Net), and I have no formal
credentials whatsoever.
If anything, I think certifications are likely to indicate mediocrity
and lack of real understanding. I've been too busy learning by doing; no
time nor need to take silly tests. (No offense is intended to those here
who may be certified and yet competent. I'll bet those who are will
agree that their testing for certifications did not make them more
productive nor more capable.)
On another matter, links to distros: Slackware is slackware.com, not
.org. The .org domain is owned by someone else. Your link works, but it
might not continue to work in the future.
And speaking of links, you're missing the Big One, ESR's Smart Questions
page:
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
I also see no mention of syslog. A great many clues to problems, and in
some cases the actual answers, can be found in the system and kernel
logs.
> I didn't specifically include newsgroups or Google's groups because I've
> found that the fastest way to find the information in them is to just do
> a regular Google search. If you know of more efficient ways, please
> tell me, I'd love to include them in the HOWTO.
The difference is in the information being searched. "Regular" Google is
a Web search, which may include some mailing list archives and some
third-party Usenet archives. Static content on the Web, even if it was
good when posted, might become stale. Usenet and mailing list archives,
such as is searched by Google Groups, might lead one to more up-to-date
answers.
The hard part in any Internet searching is in sifting wheat from chaff.
Unfortunately I know of no sure-fire way to tell a newbie how to do
that. If you have a basic understanding of things, you can tell when
someone else does, but if not ... I don't know. And a lot of searches
only yield many people with the same questions.
> > Also, users of the text versions (or lynx users) can't see the
> > screenshots so perhaps there shouldn't be any screenshots. You can show
> > the text of the screenshots in just plain text format (inside <pre> tags in html).
>
> I'm not prepared to sacrifice the screenshots for everyone else just
> because Lynx users can't see them. The majority of web browsers do
> display graphics just fine.
Well, sure. And some people even choose to use lynx in graphical
environments, especially for text-content-rich sites such as TLDP. Any
browser can turn off display of images, and I often did that when I was
on a dialup connection.
Did you realize that a Linux machine can be fully usable without any
sort of graphical display? "Getting a Terminal Window" is mostly good
information except when seen from the point of view of one who is not
using X11/XFree86. "Before you can use the command line" ... you must
login. (I'm at a shell prompt before I "startx"!)
To your credit, at least you did not use screenshots of an xterm window
to render the content of command-line output; at least not in the
version I reviewed today.
One of your IRC screenshots contains a profanity. This might be a good
warning to those who are easily offended to stay out of IRC. :) OTOH I
think that would be better said directly rather than through an image.
I agree that your Konqueror screenshots about man and info are
appropriate, since a console user would not care about what Konqueror
can or cannot do, but I side with David about the Google one. You could
put the text in an alt tag.
Speaking of what Konqueror can do, the Web shortcuts feature is very
good. One of them I use a lot is "fm:$SEARCH_TERMS" to do a Freshmeat
search to find software to perform some task. (BTW I found the above-
mentioned ESR page using "ggl:smart questions" in Konqueror. Oh, and I
see he credits Rick Moen of this list as co-author. Sorry, Rick. I use
Google as a substitute for memory. :)
> not completely familiar with these methods. I'm still fairly new to
> Linux myself.
On the positive side, you did put together a decent list of suggestions,
and the perspective of a successful newbie (I guess you're successful
because you are starting to pitch in and help rather than having given
up in frustration) is interesting.
I would not suggest that you withhold this document from publication,
but it's likely that as you gain experience you'll see more ways in
which it can be improved. Maybe you'll come up with the wheat/chaff
sorting solution I am missing. :)
Good luck, and I HTH.
Rob - /dev/rob0
