rtfm is dead, long live jfgi
I was never big with the whole rtfm thing. I mean, manuals are usually boring and they force me to think. I’ve been driving for decades, I never, ever, read a manual on how to operate my car. Why would I have to read a fine manual on how to use some software?
Instead I like to tell “real noobs” that rtfm stands for repeat the first message. (I saw that somewhere and thought it was very amusing)
noob: how do i do that obvious thing?
oldb: rtfm!
noob: /whisper julio: what’s rtfm?
julio: /whipser noob: they’re asking you to repeat the first message
noob: well, “How do I do that obvious thing?”
oldb: I told you: OMFG! R-T-F-M!!!
noob: hmmm: HOW DO I DO THAT OBVIOUS THING!!?!
it’s a lot of fun. Doesn’t happen often, like everything worthwhile. But when it does it’s hilarious.
So anyway, in this day and age, we’re beyond reading manuals. Now it’s all about JFGI.
Luke said,
March 11, 2007 @ 12:36 pm
LOL! Priceless!
I think the RTFM is sometimes appropriate in specific contexts. For example if a n00b pops into a general purpose chatroom or mailing list and ask a stupid question, he will probably get JFGI.
If he pops into a specific chatroom or list devoted to supporting/hacking specific software, or product it is entirely justified to tell him RTFM.
And I do read manuals sometimes. When I’m installing a new big piece of software or compiling it from source I usually print out the relevant readme files, flip through the quick through guide (if avaliable), have the manual booklet nearby if I need it or have my laptop nearby with googled up step-by-step tutorials.
I’m not the only one. The dude who deployed DFS, and tweaked load balancing rules and upgraded bunch of our Win2k3 servers at work had a check list, pages of hand written notes with him, a folder of stuff printed off Microsoft help sites and all kinds of other documentation. Hell, if he didn’t have these things and refer to them I would probably smack him. This was a mission critical installation, and winging it was just not an option. :)
So I’d say RTFM is not dead - it just has a slightly more refined meaning nowadays. :)