Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!ginosko!gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!apple!sun-barr!lll-winken!netsys!lamc!well!fico2!everexn!karen
From: karen@everexn.uucp (Karen Valentino)
Newsgroups: news.newusers.questions
Subject: About R'ing TFM
Message-ID: <1989Sep30.001939.20472@everexn.uucp>
Date: 30 Sep 89 00:19:39 GMT
Organization: Everex Systems, Inc.
Lines: 51


From: tale@pawl.rpi.edu (David C Lawrence)

David Lawrence writes:

DCL> Here is something that many of us perceive to be a big problem with
DCL> RTFM postings.  Do you really believe that RTFM is a kind request?  It
DCL> is neither; it is an imperative and a rude one at that. 

At the risk of perpetuating what is fast becoming a meta-discussion, 
I'll add that, as a relatively new user with many hours of frustration
from wrestling with a new editor and new operating system, and all the
new processes and syntaxes attendant, I know how hard it can be to get
into second gear on the net.  It has taken me a couple of months to be
able to RTFmaps, and to FTFmans (find the manuals).  Now I know how to
get email from here to there, and how and where to post.  But it took
me some effort and lots of reading news to figure it out.  I also had to
swallow my pride and ask my system administrator, and others here who
know how to use Unix and vi, a million stoooopid questions.

Not everyone on the net has a guru system administrator.  (Not everyone
has a system administrator, period.)  Also, some of the system administrators
on the net are programmers who have other work to do besides answering
neophyte questions.  And some of us (this from personal experience) may
hesitate to ask the nth Idiot Neophyte Question because we happen to
*know* that our system administrator has programming to do.  In my case,
my sys admin knows lots about Unix, but I always think twice before I
bother him.  Neophytes need to have a place to go where they don't feel
they're imposing/wasting someone's time.  This group is a godsend.

In reading articles, I've often found interesting and useful tidbits that
I might easily have overlooked reading TFM.  I say, it's useful to post
these tidbits that may be of general interest.  And I say, it's useful
to help someone locate the manuals (believe me, it can be pretty over-
whelming to locate something when you're not even sure where to look).
It's *not* useful (IMO) to direct someone to the manuals as if
they should already know where they are (or even *that* they are).  It's
like penalizing someone for not doing something that they weren't aware
it was possible to do!

Maybe we should start some kind of Neophytes Advocacy Group (NAG?!) (:-)

Karen
__
Karen Valentino                  >   ..ucbvax!well!fico2!everexn!karen
Everex North, Sebastopol, CA     <   ..uunet!island!grenada!everexn!karen
(satellite of Everex Systems     >   ..pacbell!mslbrb!everexn!karen
-- 
Karen Valentino               		
Everex Systems, Inc.
Sebastopol, Ca.