this post was submitted on 07 Mar 2024
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The problem with RTFM is that TFM often does not cover the problem, and broader knowledge of the OS is required. You can't expect every app to come with a manual that covers how the entire OS works, but that knowledge is often required to get work done in Linux.
People familiar with the guts of Linux or Windows will encounter these kinds of outside-the-instructions problems and know from experience what arcane setting to change or what 3rd party software needs to be installed before the procedures written in the manual will work as expected.
IMO, the Windows GUI lowers the bar to begin trial-and-error learning and makes the learning process faster.
Every Linux question I've ever had have been answered by the Arch Wiki
I'd say out of all my linux issues (and there have been a lot) that maybe 20% are not answered by RTFM. Less than 5% of those were not answered by the Arch Wiki. The remaining 15% is because I'm doing sysadmin stuff and enterprise docs can be either hard to come by, or just not complete enough (looking at your FreeIPA). I will say that certain Arch Wiki sections are worse than others and take either a bit of trial and error or are just incomplete, but that's also an opportunity to update it for the next person!
At least the Arch Wiki gives me a hint where to look at. Even for enterprise stuff sometimes.
It does help a lot, but when first party documentation is lacking there's sometimes not much you can do without consulting an expert. And sadly I work on my servers in the middle of the night when the FreeIPA IRC channel is dead :')