VERPing and Personalization (was Re: [TriLUG] Iptables help)

[Brian A. Henning]

I guess I should clarify, then..  What I meant was I am in favor of
encouraging folks to read the manual, and in favor of manual-reading in
general..  I agree with you, however, that simply telling the curious to
RTFM is often more harmful than helpful, as it can hurt their spirit for
learning.  It leads to the "I hate to ask..." or "I know this is a stupid
question..." mentality (which I like to try to dissuade by encouraging those
folks that asking questions is the pathway to knowledge).

Cheers,
~B

> >As a whole, LUG (not just triLUG; I am speaking
> >generally) members have a bit of a stigma for impatiently
> telling young'uns
> >to figure it out themselves..  While I certainly am a RTFM advocate, I
> >always appreciate when the experts deign to explain simple things to
> newbies
> >who for whatever reason just aren't getting it (as I have been in that
> >position more than once).
>
> Mostly, I think it does more harm than good.  Too often, we find that the
> people who say RTFM don't really even know the answer themselves, or are
> just unwilling to help.  Maybe they feel possessive, as if it's a kind of
> nerd Cosa Nostra.  I think someone mentioned the Luddites recently, and I
> think it's the same mentality.  Either way, I feel it's
> counter-productive.
> It doesn't promote understanding or collaboration, which are the
> foundations
> of the open source movement.
>
> Many people know where I stand on RTFM, so I won't say it.
>
> MPF
>
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