linuxgeek: Re: [LINUX_Newbies] LINUX_NEWBIES or TECHNICAL JARGON?

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Re: [LINUX_Newbies] LINUX_NEWBIES or TECHNICAL JARGON?

On Tue, Oct 27, 2009 at 10:17:35AM -0400, ... wrote:
> May I advance an opinion without generating too much controversy?
>
> endless banter of those of you who are extremely experienced with Linux,
> use of the command line, etc. And the information is so involved and so
> technical, that I just scroll on past and don't have the time or
> background to absorb it.

Understood, and a reasonable complaint on this list. As one of the
offenders, I apologize. If it helps, we all go through it at some
point, one joins a tech list or forum, and for awhile, just have no idea
what everyone is talking about. Eventually, you find someone with (at
last) a question you can answer, and one day, you realize you're finally
answering more than you're asking.

>

> Then I post a simple (maybe not so simple question) about why those
> extraneous lines appear in the posted e-mails, and those annoying >>>
> characters, and none of you pros even address it.

Sorry, it got overlooked in the silliness.

Now, the reason for the > and >>
Again, this goes back to the early days, and is considered the standard
(at least, I still see it thunderbird--I use mutt, a text based client
and there it would be expected) method of telling who posted what.

For example, I write,

hello

You respond and your mail client will usually put in

Scott wrote

> hello

Now you answer
Hi

I hit reply and I'll see

Scott wrote
>>hello

Jerry wrote
>Hi

So, by noticing 2 >> in front of the line, I know that it's from the
older post, and the single > means it was the post to which I'm
responding.

Of course, when threads get very long, it gets absurd

>>>>>Hi
>>>>Hello
>>>Hi there
>>Hello
>Huh?

(Note that the latest poster, the one who gets one >, is completely lost
at this point. :)

This is one reason that one of the links I've frequently posted has to
do with trimming. Pure bottom posting, at the end of a long post, is as
bad, or worse, than top posting. That's why we old timers suggest in
line posting, complete with trimming.

Of course, then someone trims off the essential point of an email
and....

Anyway, I hope I've explained the meaning of those lines. When you're
used to them, and familiar with them, it makes it easier to follow a
thread.

However, on long threads, especially with many posters, it's often just
easier to put

Jerry wrote:
whatever

I wrote:

Whatever what?

Jerry answered
Whatever is.

(However, one would still leave in the >> thingies, because, among other
things, removing it is a pain.)

> If there are simple sites out there to address common and simple
> problems without going into endless detail, which may or may not address
> the problem at hand, I would be glad to know about it.

Yeah, that's my main complaint about some of the sites. They write do X
as if X was a self-standing instruction and to the newcomer, it isn't at
all clear. Sometimes, one will say, go to the command line and do,

then the newcomer answers, "How do I get to the command line?"

>
> Just venting a little, sorry!

No, very good points. Despite some of the nastiness going back and
forth in the last few days, don't be afraid to ask questions. If
someone says, well, read man <whatever> don't be afraid to come back and
say, I read it, but I'm totally lost. Those of use who've been around
for awhile tend to agree that Linux documentation is often, errm, not up
to the level of craftmanship as those air guns mentioned in another
thread.

(I'm being silly here, basically, much, though not all, Linux
documentation is horrible. I used to think I was dumb, then I began
using FreeBSD and realized the lack of understanding was due to poor
writing.)

>
> Jerry in Michigan
>
> PS--I just corrected my text and used the delete key, so I'm quite sure
> I'll have extraneous spaces. What do I do, put everything into a
> text-based word processor and fix everything first, then paste into my
> e-mail? Maybe I'll try that.

That's not a big deal. I wouldn't worry about it. You're using
Thunderbird, if I remember correctly, and it does a reasonable job.

--
Scott Robbins
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