Comments on: RTFM Josh!

By: Lux Spaces

Lux Spaces — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:04:27 +0000

Go to your local mega-bookstore and check for Linux publications in the MAGAZINE section. There are several European mags (Linux Format and Linux Magazine=Linux Pro Magazine in the US) and there are some US-specific mags as well, and they have DVDs with the mags. Problem, you need a dvd reader to use them. Linux Pro Magazine put out an Ubuntu Special Edition just this month, with DVD. Linux Format has a 6 flavor *buntu DVD this month. You might be intersted in the Xubuntu version.

By: Josh

Josh — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 15:16:36 +0000

@Michael – Whoa, that’s a nice dissertation on manuals! Thanks for the comments. I totally agree on the lab thing BTW; I had actually set up a little mini-POC for this before, but naturally, since I didn’t follow the same ruthless documentary procedures I do at work, I didn’t record how exactly I got the whole thing to work. Lesson learned.

On that “idiot” software comment: might you be speaking from experience?

By: Michael

Michael — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 04:57:25 +0000

BTW – before attempting to do anything remote, I recommend a lab locally to prove out it works or have a geek on the other side to fix problems simultaneously.

By: Michael

Michael — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 04:56:29 +0000

Amazingly enough until you’ve actually run into serious problems and/or are attempting to be uber expert on something, most of the time the manual is unnecessary. From larger companies all the way down to ‘geek’ modders, most product makers realize that if their material/product is to be used and appreciated it needs to be understandable, at be least logical. There generally exists a short connection from the product at hand to the overall paradigm of the class of products it is part of (e.g. a browser is a browser is a browser). Hence by using in-kind knowledge, applying previous experiences and using relational logic we are guided through most activities (one-offs, idiot or malicious products are a different story). This is a huge benefit because not alll of use can be in on the design process.

Further relegating product specific manuals to the recycling bin is the art of the Google . Searches provide contextual results as people pour out their stories of how they got into a mess (see above), most manuals on the other hand speak in terms of linear steps. (of course the example above was using a tuturial – a bit of a hybrid of real-world and a linear approach – not necessarily a classic manual usually referred to in RTFM)

Going even further, a paper manual can be a handy tool of course if the almighty internet is unavailable. Additionally, the physical manifestation can have notes written in them for easy future reference. And of course when you just need to get to that article on that forum that you swore said how to fix the problem, but you just can’t remember the search terms or find that the historic article has been purged, well then reaching for that paper sometimes is not such a bad idea after all!