Grumpy old man maybe

[AndyMH]

As an OAP have I turned into a grumpy old man or have I seen an increase in the number of posts where the answer is one google search away?

[Reorx]

As an OAP have I turned into a grumpy old man or have I seen an increase in the number of posts where the answer is one google search away?

Maybe both!!! ...but for sure the latter!!! (My wife accuses me of the former all the time!)

[Citizen229]

Its the generation gap, I have noticed. Younger generations tend to be more the instant gratification type. If they cant find an answer in 3 minutes they seek help. Where as, the older generations will spend days looking to get the satisfaction of fixing it themselves.

[Pierre]

Both Grumpy and Old ? Nah - - that Title is still held by catweazel
- and he knows something about Computers, too.

[Flemur]

As an OAP have I turned into a grumpy old man or have I seen an increase in the number of posts where the answer is one google search away?

A google search on
have I seen an increase in the number of posts where the answer is one google search away?
told me to "Improve your local ranking on Google".

But my own set of anecdotes posing as data says "yes, indeedy!"

[AndyMH]

I see catweazel has got himself a new haircut, think it's better than an Egyptian god

[JerryF]

I see catweazel has got himself a new haircut, think it's better than an Egyptian god

I agree!

[lsemmens]

Yes, Catweasel hadn't been looking himself for a while, it's good to see him back in fine form!

Moi? Grumpy? Hell Yeah! Especially when you won't try and solve your own problems first! Old? I felt old when I saw a news report the other day that they are celebrating Self Government for the Northern Territory and I was there when it happened. (Only 40 years ago). And then my daughter says that kids come into the bar where she works and she checks their ID only to find that they weren't around last century. How many remember watching Neil Armstrong take his "one small step" or Mercury?

edit:oops! I must be old! I forgot! Man? If I ain't a bloke, then my wife must be a lesbian, and if' that's the case how did we get 4 kids? Yeah! I know about all that artificial stuff, and "other" stuff, but I'm certain that I was there when they were made, and I had a part in it..........

[catweazel]

Both Grumpy and Old ? Nah - - that Title is still held by catweazel
- and he knows something about Computers, too.

I resemble that remark!

[JosephM]

As an OAP have I turned into a grumpy old man or have I seen an increase in the number of posts where the answer is one google search away?

It's not just here it's everywhere. Just look at the reports on the different Mint betas. So many of them were duplicates (or far more) of things already reported. Not only that a very large number of them were directly answered in the blog post people were commenting on. Please actually read the blog post before commenting

[catweazel]

As an OAP have I turned into a grumpy old man or have I seen an increase in the number of posts where the answer is one google search away?

It's probably fear-driven. People get in a panic and want their problem fixed asap, which begs the question of the desire for instant gratification. 99.99% of people would have their problem solved if they simply did a search. However some people simply don't have the google-fu skills to search for the word 'printer', and it's those people we are here to help.

[Moem]

I'm certain that I was there when they were made, and I had a part in it..........

We don't want to hear about your 'part' or where it's been... this is a family-friendy forum.

[AndyMH]

and it's those people we are here to help

I think you are being very gracious.

[catweazel]

and it's those people we are here to help

I think you are being very gracious.

Not really, just upholding the Mint ethos. If I wanted to tear strips out of people who couldn't do a simple search I'd join the Arch Linux forums.

[BG405]

If I wanted to tear strips out of people who couldn't do a simple search I'd join the Arch Linux forums.

You'd be the top poster there in no time

Now I'm tempted to have a look on there .. don't think I'll join though, yet, even though I do have a couple of Arch VMs

[lmuserx4849]

As an OAP have I turned into a grumpy old man or have I seen an increase in the number of posts where the answer is one google search away?

It would make sense because there are more linux distro users who haven't come from a technical background or sought out opensource for its' philosphy, and there are more answers to questions just because there are more people. I particularly like stack exchanges because they kind of sort out the redundancy and the correct or the best answer filters to the top. I have a friend who always reminds me don't waste the developers time. 99% of answers are coming from folks who have volunteered their time, officially or unofficially. The first rule of asking a question, do your homework. I think a response, "I did a search, but I don't understand or it didn't work. Can you help?", is perfectly ok.

I'd like to see the person that asked the question and got that response, do the search and provide a link to the answer they chose and mark the forum entry as [Solved]. If they didn't find a response in their search (or already did a search), come back, say so, explain what actions were taken and I'm 99% sure the next response will be more specific.

Sometimes it's difficult to answer a question because it is so nonspecific. Too much information (something like 50 lines of a log) is just as bad as too little (my desktop does not work).

How to ask technical questions to get quality answers

I had to lookup the definition of OAP.
Do a search is better than the old response RTFM

[trytip]

this is true. people live with google everyday yet they know not how to ask it a question. but at the same time if you look at google search results most of them are from 2008-2016. some of solutions work and are timeless , but most older instructions do nothing or may even break modern updates.
it was hard enough to teach my father how to move a mouse and cause it to double-click , let alone explain what a ppa does

ps: what does OAP mean? oh wait, highlight OAP rightclick it and seach google for OAP , nevermind

[BG405]

but at the same time if you look at google search results most of them are from 2008-2016. some of solutions work and are timeless , but most older instructions do nothing or may even break modern updates.

This is often an issue and not just with Google search (which I don't use BTW). Would be nice if search engines could list the dates the pages were first fetched and last updated. This would save a LOT of clicks on obsolete "results".

[catweazel]

If I wanted to tear strips out of people who couldn't do a simple search I'd join the Arch Linux forums.

You'd be the top poster there in no time

Verily I say unto thee, even the Arch regulars wouldn't know what had hit

[MintBean]

Yeah, they're not fans of help vampires on the Arch forums. I don't find their stance unreasonable. If you can't be bothered to attempt some basic research before asking a question, you've no place using a tech enthusiast distro.