|
Hello all.
Heres a new topic for discussion, if you
like.
I was just trawling comp.os.linux, and came
across a query from someone asking what POSIX is. The only reply they got was
that 'POSIX is some kind of alternative shell similar in many ways to Bash, with
a few nuances of its own'.
I did point the guy to www.whatis.com/posix, but the problem is
this:
With all this information freely floating
around, people are likely to latch onto the first instance of an answer they
encounter. If this means that they will be forever wrong, no matter. They don't
know that the information is duff.
As it happens, Linux has an excellent community
of techy people willing and able to help, but some very disillusioned souls are
finding themselves at completely the wrong end of the stick.
I have encountered people in newsgroups assuming
things like:
POSIX is a type of shell (see
above)
You need to reboot to change
the screen resolution in X, change the hostname, anything, in
fact!!
If you use LILO, Windows and
all other OS' will be deleted
Windows software will run
'out-of-the-box'
You need DirectX to run
anything vaguely multimedia
They've made a mistake
because IE4/5 is not there when they run X!!
As you can tell, most of this are simply
ridiculous, but being a newbie once myself, I know that if you assume something
like this, and no-one tells you otherwise, you can get in bother.
On the one hand, then, newbies can get a lot of
help from others more experienced, but on the other hand, they are open to any
old rubbish anyone wishes to (authoritively) tell them.
Perhaps the role of Linux User Groups must grow
beyond 'a meeting place for those interested to chat and go down the pub' to
portals into the Linux world for anyone interested, seasoned pro or newcomer
alike.
Just a thought.
Craig
- - - - - - - - - - - -
If you think this is a load of
rubbish,
you should read my college
reports!!
- - - - - - - - - - -
-
|