[ale] Teaching the uninspired - Was: I am so tired of Linux Fanatics

Thu Jul 8 10:52:11 EDT 2010

We need a series of entertaining linux-is-your-friend videos on youtube.
Wouldn't it be amazing if every one of your students HAD read the
chapter?
The ones who have done the reading are much easier to teach that little
thing they are missing.
I often wish the books I am required to teach from were interactive
videos with a subplot about spies and aliens
so more students would stay interested (awake) long enough to get the
main concepts.

Let's make some blockbuster movies that include really understanding the
posix standard as a major piece of the plot.
Or maybe the subtle differences between zfs, ext4 and jfs.  

Most people are much happier with bandaid (TM) fixes than true
understanding when the issue is not central to their main focus.

It is immature pedagogy to get frustrated with newbies for being
newbies, however it seems as if hardly anybody inhabiting most
newsgroups or irc nodes consider teaching to be their business.  They
are helping us for free so we should be grateful for whatever obtuse,
incomplete answers we get.  in a few months, we might find that the
answer we got was right on target.  By then we have had to burn down a
couple more installs, and have seem more failures.  

I like instructing new students.  They help me see where my own
understanding is lacking.

-----Original Message-----
From: jrtroberts <jrtroberts at gmail.com>
Reply-to: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts - Yes! We run Linux! <ale at ale.org>
To: ale at ale.org
Subject: Re: [ale] I am so tired of Linux Fanatics
Date: Wed, 07 Jul 2010 21:29:49 -0400

:)
most of my griping about the command line and related issues, is from my
perspective as one who is trying to recruit new members to the linux
guild.  I grew up with dos, and after 2 years of non stop CISCO training
I am back in relative shape to deal with CLI.  I just find it
unattractive  for people to be so snide and careless about how they
speak to others who are trying to learn. 

I used to be an algebra tutor.  If I told people that I wouldn't help
them until they read the chapter and did more research on their own,
they would: 
1. stop coming to me to get help 
2. fail the class if someone else didn't help them 
3. and I would get fired 
(not that irc channels are tutoring hot spots) 

Linux is a new language, not just a new operating system.  If you were
trying to learn spanish or german or russain and the people who could
offer you help handed you a dictionary that was only in that native
language, and spoke in slang derived from that other language when they
told you how to use the dictionary learning would suck. 

I am bright enough to figure most of this out on my own, but I don't
want to spend 3 days to 3 weeks reading about the OS.  I want to be
doing things with it. 

So yeah, I am a linux Newb and I guess I am lazy.  So most of it is
probably my fault.  My time as a salesman should have taught me more
about swimming with sharks.  If you can't keep up, don't worry about
staying on the porch, the sharks will eat you up anyway.  Gotta keep
moving and keep improving. 

I guess what I am saying is that there is so much I want to do with
linux, and I want to do it all right now.  My head is pounding from
staying up until 5 am, or 8 am every day for the last 3 weeks tinkering
with it and testing it.  I am burning out and I am getting lazy when a
new idea comes to my head, I would rather ask then read anymore stuff. 

I guess I need to keep a journal of things I want to do, and prioritize
them and then work from there.  Maybe I will scrum it out.  (I doubt
either will work, but they are ideas). I don't know, but I will get it
figured out.  And then the new challenge will be NOT turning into one of
the people online that respond to questions with comments like: 

"are you a windows faggot?" 
or 
"GIYF!!"  and no it does not mean Google is your friend in this
context. 

Thanks for the positive support.  I am probably just burning the candle
at both ends while it hangs over a bon fire.  But, that is kind of the
way my mind grinds.  It is always hungry for knowledge and I do my best
to feed it.  Linux is a great smörgåsbord, and I think I am over
eating. 

8D 

Joshua 

On 07/07/10 19:13, David Tomaschik wrote: 

> I like to consider myself a "Linux Fanatic", but I like to think that
> I'm not smug, arrogant, or otherwise impatient with new users.  Believe
> it or not, I like to help people, and I especially like to help people
> with their Linux issues.  Sure, I'll sometimes make jokes when I'm
> around other technical people (I love the BOFH series), but never at the
> expense of anyone who actually made an effort.  Check out
> LinuxQuestions.org sometime when you have issues -- elitist attitudes
> are not generally tolerated there.  I've found IRC is made up of people
> who need help, and people who enjoy making others feel bad.
> 
>   
> 
> _______________________________________________
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> Ale at ale.org
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