Comment Linux snobs are not highly information literate. (Score 1) 1347
Information literacy is the ability to recognise an information need, source and evaluate the information, then apply, diseminate, store and dispose of it as needed. Ask your garden variety librarian to find documentation concerning problem XYZ on system D and they'll not only be able to find it, they'll be able to tell you how they did it, so you can do it yourself next time.
The Linux snobs mentioned (and any other computer snobs) are not capable of this. They have no real idea of how they acquired their knowledge, no real idea of how to gain more knowledge efficiently, and would flounder outside their area of expertise. They are obselete relics of a less information rich time.
They have no real understanding of information requirements, and indeed will give source code explanations to someone who's just beyond point-and-click, wasting both the asker and the answerer's time.
The worst part is, it undermines the point of open source: information freedom.
If someone has gone to the trouble of pin-pointing their information need, it's only courtesy to respond to that need. If it's most efficient to point to an FAQ, a forum thread or a documentaton list, do that (even just a better place to ask the question again). If it's more efficient to answer yourself, do that. They'll be able to move onto the next phase of inquiry, because you've given them a gateway into knowledge. Everybody wins, including the ideal of open-source.
But if you are obstructive to an inquirer via rudeness, info-undersupply or information oversupply, then you've rendered their information sourcing unproductive, and anyone intelligent would move on to another OS/information source where their inquiries will meet with success. Congrats, you've made yourself and your knowledge useless to other people.
Conversely, if someone posts vague, unresearched questions like 'How do I use Linux?' or 'Why did I crash?' they are making a thoughtless inquiry. Feel free to reply saying that's too vague and/or tell them to ask google. You get to be obliquely insulting and helpful at the same time, and use both your and their time efficiently, since hopefully they'll go away until they've got a more suitable question. RTFM requires no thought, no knowledge, no understanding and no social skills.
Not being able to give an answer appropriate to the question is a sign of information illiteracy. Being a guru isn't just about knowing everything, it's knowing how to learn everything, and therefore how to teach.
(And I believe that puts in one place a lot of things other replies have touched on)
The Linux snobs mentioned (and any other computer snobs) are not capable of this. They have no real idea of how they acquired their knowledge, no real idea of how to gain more knowledge efficiently, and would flounder outside their area of expertise. They are obselete relics of a less information rich time.
They have no real understanding of information requirements, and indeed will give source code explanations to someone who's just beyond point-and-click, wasting both the asker and the answerer's time.
The worst part is, it undermines the point of open source: information freedom.
If someone has gone to the trouble of pin-pointing their information need, it's only courtesy to respond to that need. If it's most efficient to point to an FAQ, a forum thread or a documentaton list, do that (even just a better place to ask the question again). If it's more efficient to answer yourself, do that. They'll be able to move onto the next phase of inquiry, because you've given them a gateway into knowledge. Everybody wins, including the ideal of open-source.
But if you are obstructive to an inquirer via rudeness, info-undersupply or information oversupply, then you've rendered their information sourcing unproductive, and anyone intelligent would move on to another OS/information source where their inquiries will meet with success. Congrats, you've made yourself and your knowledge useless to other people.
Conversely, if someone posts vague, unresearched questions like 'How do I use Linux?' or 'Why did I crash?' they are making a thoughtless inquiry. Feel free to reply saying that's too vague and/or tell them to ask google. You get to be obliquely insulting and helpful at the same time, and use both your and their time efficiently, since hopefully they'll go away until they've got a more suitable question. RTFM requires no thought, no knowledge, no understanding and no social skills.
Not being able to give an answer appropriate to the question is a sign of information illiteracy. Being a guru isn't just about knowing everything, it's knowing how to learn everything, and therefore how to teach.
(And I believe that puts in one place a lot of things other replies have touched on)
