this post was submitted on 18 Dec 2025
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Getting help with Linux 15-20 years ago: some forum full with slurs telling you to google it
Getting help with Windows 15-20 years ago: "Do this and this, if that fails look up data backup methods before the reinstall."
Getting help with Linux now: various Wikis and blogs. The hazard of finding an AI hallucinated blog post is significant, but can be blocked.
Getting help with Windows now: support forums owned by Microsoft filled with users telling they have the same issue, and AI agents hallucinating solutions.
I feel this to my core.
My work PC uses Windows, and sometimes I have to Google something that is acting up, which takes me to these sorts of threads. It's always:
lol, freaking nailed it. God those are insufferable.
to be fair, some linux forums still have toxic members, and some others while probably not toxic, are still a bit harsh with people
No it wasn't, where we you going for help lol?
On the forums asking for help.
What forums? In 2005 every forum I went to was really helpful, friendly, and nothing like what you describe.
Certainly there was a little bit of internet snarkiness I would imagine, but I remember everyone being pretty nice to each other.
I decided to go back and look using the way back machine and went through a few threads, everyone is being really nice and helpful to each other.
Same experience.
Huge part of what kept me in the community of the Free Software philosophy.
It's in the 4 freedoms. Free to use, study, share and change, the software. That's the enabled and protected spirit of helping each other.
Assertions of contrary, has me wonder what those offering those other assertions were doing to get that kind of reception and impression.
Asking for Linux help online is still just as toxic and useless as 20 years ago.
Being told "RFTM! noob", isn't as common as it was 20 years ago. At least with Fedora where good help can be found. Still, there are a good number of questions that just don't get answered either.
Try Reddit or Stackoverflow for a contrasting experience.
I often go through r/fedora and I very seldom come across anyone belittling anyone else. You might not get an answer at all, but it's seldom anyone will tell you to RTFM. I have little experience with stackoverflow, so I can't say anything about them.
Being told to read the manual did me good.
We should bring back RTFM, and cease allowing it to be smeared as something bad. Burnout is no fun. RTFM spares developers from burnout, allowing them to continue developing good software (and have it be well documented... if only users would read the flippin manual!) ;D
RTFM is good and can be useful for newcomers, if you help them through finding and understanding the RTFM. Many of them are poorly organized and written. It can be hard to understand them.
All the support forums I went to (redhat, gentoo, debian) in 2005 were friendly helpful and well moderated. What is this fud?