[ale] VNCserver

[Joseph A Knapka]

Charles Marcus wrote:
> 
> Are you saying you refuse to even read the HowTo?  If so, you won't get very far in the Linux world.  There are many people here and everywhere on the net that are very helpful, they're not gonna do it for you.
> 
> I'm not a programmer either, and struggle through what some here would consider simple things, but each time I make something work, what I learned can usually be applied in many other areas.
> 
> If you can't have fun learning and doing (and trying and failing and trying again), then Linux isn't for you.

On the other hand, sometimes newbies need some hand-holding
at the beginning in order not to be overwhelmed. And I don't
mind doing that. But it's true that in this forum and others,
failure to at least try to work out a problem yourself is
a good way to get beat up on, especially if there are
extremely obvious baby-steps that you have not yet taken,
such as reading the FAQ for the product in question.

Oddly enough, though, if you establish early on that you
*are* willing to look for the answer yourself, and are
willing to answer others' questions to the best of your
ability, you can often get away with something like,
"I'm trying to get application X to do Y, and I could
find the answer myself, but I'm just *sure* one of you
big strong macho hacker-types must have dealt with the
problem already, so I thought I'd ask." It's very strange,
but people will respond to such queries from folks
who have established some Linux or open-source "street
cred", even though they're not really any different than
the newbie saying, "Please fix this for me, I just can't
do it myself." In one case we interpret the question to
be a short-cut around expensive and inefficient wheel-
reinvention, whereas in the other we interpret it as
a whiny, self-serving attempt to take advantage of
community wisdom without paying one's dues. I'm not
sure this distinction is "good" for Linux or open-
source in general, though I will admit to being
just as annoyed by the second variety as the next
person.

Cheers,

-- Joe
"I should like to close this book by sticking out any part of my neck
 which is not yet exposed, and making a few predictions about how the
 problem of quantum gravity will in the end be solved."
 --- Physicist Lee Smolin, "Three Roads to Quantum Gravity"

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