Well pardon me for misunderstanding the spirit of the "Linux Community." Don't get me wrong Peter. I appreciate your outlook of the situation and your clarifications in understanding the mentality of the Linux "Community." Also Peter I have to say thanks to you because your generosity and helpfulness has helped to reinforce my delusions.<$comment!=Sacrcasm> I must also add that there ARE also others who have contributed to my delusions. At first I had the delusion that the Linux "Community" had an attitude of generosity and helpfulness, but over the years I've learned that many don't operate on those principals.
Sorry, but in my idealistic delusions, I like to put my faith in motos like "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" and "give and it will be given to you." I don't know how that works in the techie world, but in my world view, I firmly believe that every time I help someone, it actually helps me. I realize that there is a learning curve in the techie world. If I see a question that is within my sphere of understanding, and the questioner is a little behind that curve, I like to think that I will bend over backwards to help direct them to the next plot or so on that curve, but I don't want to stop there. I try to give them as much as I can to help them simply because I want to be helpful. Unfortunately, there are some who have done the same for me, and they are guilty of reinforcing my delusions. For certain, I try never to give the slightest allusion to someone's ignorance if they are not on the same level of understanding that I am in regard to any technology or if they do not conform to my standard of behavior. I may not be perfect in that regard, but this group has certainly helped to cemented the conviction that I must be. I also like to be helpful when I can in a effort to relieve those who have greater expertise from having to answer every rudimentary question. That is my way of contributing to the "Community." Personally it does not concern me if an inquirer has not researched a problem or solution. I guess that maybe since I am a late comer to the Linux "Community" that Philosophical Model still seems to be foreign to me. Although I don't feel a great need to defend myself, in my defense, I can honestly say that the questions that I ask are probably in the neighborhood of 1/10 of a percent of what I have learned over the past few years. 99.9 percent of the time, I research. I don't ask a question unless I feel I have good reason. That is because I am well aware that many among the Linux "Community" don't have the same attitude or philosophy that I do. I know exactly the specific reason why I asked that question, and I still am convinced that I had good reason to do so. The assumption that my reasoning is faulty could be a mistake. Needless to say, I will take your suggestions to heart Peter. I will commit to memory that in general the LInux "Community" does not have the same attitude that I do, and I will rarely bother them with my questions. I hope you understand that sometimes it can be challenging to suppress default behavior. On the other hand, it seems to me that the RTM/LMGTFY is an obsolete business model. Linux is a business and it is my opinion that LInux should evolve with the trends of the day. It seems to me that these days the prevailing business model is to be quite generous in offering help especially in the tech support department. To me, it seems no wonder that M$ and Mac have dominated the Desktop OS industry, alluding to another discussion, as they have concentrated their efforts on tech support and user-friendliness. It seems quite remarkable to me that after witnessing the success of M$ and Mac for 15+ years due to their tech support and user-friendliness business model that Linux users would persist in the RTM/LMGTFY business model. The users themselves are the "Linux" business representatives, since there is no-one else unless you pay for RH or SUSE and such support. They have prolonged discussions searching for a solution for their "desktop" failure when the answer is staring them right in the face. It seems to me that, at least in my view, the whole "tech" world has embraced the philosophy of offering free services to potential customers because then they will like you and bring their business to you, except, of course, the LInux Community. I think that it is a big mistake to hold on to that philosophy. I really don't intend to suggest that anyone is ignorant or stupid, but to be honest, that mentality reminds me of the monkey trap. They put food in a coconut with a small hole. When the monkey puts his hand in the hole to get the food, he can't let go even if it kills him. It's a wonder to me that anyone, who is not at or above sysAdmin level even uses Linux considering the abuse they will have to endure if they choose to conduct such an endeavor as I have personally experienced. I guess I am just a glutton for punishment. But, on the other hand, I am rather satisfied with what I have accomplished so farand there are actually worthwhile benifits. The reason that I refer to my status as a novice from time to time is because I feel that it would be very constructive for the "Community" to hear the perspective of someone who is simply a user, and not a sysAdmin. Not because I'm trying to elicit favor, help or sympathy. Truth be told, I do it in an effort and for the hope that it will dawn on some in the Linux Community that they need to pay attention to the non tech user if they want to increase their desktop user footprint. To be honest, there is nothing that has discouraged me from wanting to use Linux more than this user group. The technical challenge is undaunting to me. And being a member of this group from the very beginning of my adoption of Linux, I can assure EVERYONE in this group that I KNOW EXACTLY why, and that I have THE best understanding of why people don't adopt Linux as their desktop period! That is because I have experience it for myself coming from the non tech user world. I know that many on the list are going to rage over that statement, and you can just go ahead and flame on. I don't care what anyone says. That LMGTFY trash is faulty, outdated and counterproductive. You defeat your purpose. I also find it quite remarkable when there are literally a thousands distros that can be built from a bare kernel, let alone gentoo, slackware and arch and etc, but some think that it is a mistake that ONE distro is venturing to test out new concepts and user interface philosophies. Furthermore, that one distro seems to have embraced the business model that has overwhelmingly swept over the tech world and that also is viewed as a mistake. Let me ask those among us who insist on sticking with the horse driven plow.<no disrespect intended> How can you test UI if you don't put it out into the general public? How will you know which direction the UI development should go unless you study it over a long periods of time using database technology? I know there are those among this group who know exactly what I'm talking about. And there are others who may not, but I would not suggest that would indicate a lack of intelligence. It is my personal opinion that Mark Shuttleworth, and not a few others, have discarded the antiquated philosophy of RTM/LMGTFY, and that is the secret of their success. For those who insist on the horse driven plow philosophy, I hope I will not cause you to prematurely turn over in your graves when I help someone on the list regardless of whether they have researched, or whether they are worthy of help according to the Linux "Community" business model. It seems to me that if someone doesn't want to answer my question, or if they feel that I havn't done enough research to be worthy of an answer according to Linux Community standards, that they could relieve themselves of undue effort and stress by simply not responding to my email AND save time to boot! I find it ratheR intriguing that someone would feel the need to go through all the trouble to LMGTFY in order to insure that I comply with the Linux Community standard when all they have to do is click away from my email! So I must apologize for my persistence in delusional behavior and for setting a sticky bit on the file that says there may be someone out there in the vast recesses of planet "Linux Community" who would have the same attitude that I do and would be happy to help me regardless of whether I am worthy of "Linux Community" citizenship. In my defense I must repeat that there are individual who have contributed to my delusional behavior. May the wisdom of Linux Community business model endure forever. May it never change so that Uber LInux SysAdmins can live in eternal bliss and comfort! Let it never be said that someone who has not fulfilled the commandment to RTM was ever given help in spite of their unworthiness. Yes, and never lose faith in LMGTFY, the savior of planet Linux. Go on. Flame on! Just refute me and ignore me. My opinion could NOT POSSIBLY have any bearing or carry any impact. No! No! Not in the midst of such wisdom, understanding and knowledge! _______________________________________________ LinuxUsers mailing list LinuxUsers@socallinux.org http://socallinux.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/linuxusers
