Here’s my bit, it goes without saying that we are in a much friendlier environment than pure Arch, or at least that’s my impression, if you specify that:
a.- the console must be opened
b.- you must type the command garuda-inxi
c.- select with the mouse the output of garuda-inxi
d.- paste it between the three tildes ~~~, etc.
Or tell it where it is located at garuda-rani.
For all those newcomers to Linux, those coming from Winflops, those who have never used a console or used a forum, it would be more helpful, and would reach more people, to let them know this part in detail.
Afterwards, if they stay with us, they will see how the forum is used by all the other members who are older than them. I know this goes against the RTFM philosophy, or against members with more years using Arch, but as I said at the beginning, this distribution tends to be more friendly, or at least that’s what I read from some members, and it’s especially for this in particular, as this issue happens with users who have just arrived.
I would welcome a solution to this problem too. Possible approaches are already being discussed.
However, I think the problem lies elsewhere, and I don’t know if it can be solved here. People just want to post their messages. They don’t want to read a long template that mentions the most important information for supporters after a few sentences. I bet most people don’t even get that far. They don’t want to watch a video either. And then there are the paranoid ones who think that garuda-inxi is exposing their lives and therefore don’t post.
I myself ran a medical forum for years. I was an admin or mod in several other forums. My experience shows me that it’s a social thing. The registration process is annoying, it takes time, and then I’m supposed to post this and that before I can get to my problem. Post my hardware? Why do people here care about my hardware? People want to come in, describe their problem, get the solution presented to them immediately, and then they’re gone. It’s just an absolutely selfish thing. How the help comes about, how many people invest their time for free, what it means to create and maintain the infrastructure for something like this is not even secondary, but simply of no interest at all.
There are also many new users, for example, who are not even capable of saying hello. Broken down to the level of physical contact, this means: I enter a stranger’s apartment, sit down on the sofa without saying a word, put my worn-out shoe on the table, and expect it to be repaired without any annoying questions while someone brings me a coffee so I don’t get bored. I often sit in front of such posts for minutes, read them several times, and have to control myself not to express my opinion. Because it certainly wouldn’t be a friendly one.
In my opinion, the only question is whether to continue to be lenient or to take a hard line. If you don’t post what we need to be able to help you at all and without 10 questions, then you’re out of luck and have to figure out how to find a solution yourself.
SOrry i am a newb here but i dont know if i should be saying this but, Wouldn’t it be easier to just take the forum posting directly from rani we can actually generate a issues and assistance and ask a popup to the user that the garuda-inxi is need for posting your issue here and when the user clicks ok then the command is run and added to issue and assistance post automatically , why go for complicated solutions.
I was thinking maybe if the team can add an option to RANI to export garuda-inxi into a .nfo file (or any other open-source extension since I believe .nfo is owned by microslop) and then require that file to be present on a post in the appropriate section. Just a thought.
100% this is true, but this is not the group of people we need to cater to. And I’ll also posit is anti the ethos of Linux generally, Arch Linux specifically, and Garuda especially.
Can confirm, absolutely, as someone who’s hosted and moderated fora for many years, this is absolutely true. I will say, however, that role modeling behavior is an excellent way to discourage this kind of attitude and behavior from people who genuinely need help and are looking for a solution. Those who come in bad faith and behave poorly, and are resistant to changing their behavior will ultimately leave, as they’re not getting what they want how they want it. This self-selection process helps to foster a group that is more aligned with the expected behavior.
In my experience, the best way to deal with this kind of attitude and user is to simply not engage. Nothing an entitled individual hates more than being ignored. After time, they learn to leave as well, or change their behavior if they really need help.
I still believe in “killing them with kindness.” My only issue with that is that it just uses up precious people’s time who wish to help and runs the risk of burning out the “good ones” to the point they resent people who need help and can’t follow the rules. The resentment is the poison that - I believe - we should avoid.
To the degree that posts that “violate the rules” by not including the information that’s needed to help them can be limited, I think can go a long way to avoiding the buildup of resentment and then treating windows refugees as insufferable n00bs who need to be castigated for not RTFM.
MS made it easy for non-technical users to operate their computers in the limited ways they use it. Historically, FOSS Linux distribs have largely been the bailiwick of intrepid new users, and technical users. This effectively isolates the rest of the folks who wish to migrate out of their walled gardens. To Garuda’s credit, it has been one of the most pleasant experiences I’ve ever had distro hopping since the 90s. And Garuda is the first Linux distro I’ve used as my daily driver. In my mind, that is a reflection on the community and distro maintainers than the distrib itself.
We cannot deny that there is a steep learning curve to using Linux - and I think Garuda has done an amazing job of making that curve, if not less steep, certainly more manageable by way of offering a sort of “Linux sherpa” support. I only wish to see this distribution continue to thrive and grow.
Yes, you’re absolutely correct. And IIRC, the .nfo file it saves is some proprietary binary format, but I don’t think microsclop has the monopoly on the file extension, and I think it’s more widely recognized as a txt file.
Then again, uploading an actual file to post a could introduce malware. I see .nfo was associated with the warez scene so that would cause ethical issues. I tried.
I’m not sure I see any ethical issues with using a text file with an extension that’s widely used generally. Just because it was popularized by warez/piracy has nothing to do with an open text file or extension. I honestly don’t see any ethical or moral issues here.
I agree with you more or less on all points, but the target group that most frequently and persistently ignores the guidelines is the one we are talking about here. At least, that is how I understood your initial post.
I honestly believe that many posters who don’t include their output in their first post are usually either forgetting, think it’s not really necessary, or feel like they’re not really sure how to do it. This is intentionally a generous perspective and interpretation.
Clearly, a pattern of behavior from a repeat poster who regularly doesn’t include it, is a different matter altogether.
