You would think, wouldn't you, that people study Linux in order to learn something. After all, if you just want to use a computer to get onto Facebook, it already comes with a functional operating system.

So why do people go on Linux courses and then just post their homework here? Don't they have any interest in actually learning something? Aren't they curious to know how to solve a presented problem? And if not, why do they bother to sign up for these courses in the first place (and presumably pay good money too)?

This looks suspiciously like a homework question for your Psych 101 class.

You mean I'm lazy and should do my own research? Well, how about a poll then:

Why do you post your homework questions here? Is it because
1) You're bone idle?
2) You're too stupid to work out the answer?
3) You want to annoy us?
4) Other?

The trouble is, I don't think there'd be many responders.

I think laziness is human nature and some people will take the easy way out. The web facilitates this, no getting away from that... even 'IT professionals' go to sites like stack exchange, etc, expecting others to bail them out when they get out of their depth. It's not so different.

I suggest just ignoring them as the continual chastisements won't work. These are mostly new users with no real concept of how this site operates. It's probably something moderators should deal with, politely and by just closing the thread.

Personally I've never understood why people take umbrage at any questions at all. If you don't like the question move on to one you do like. Lack of response will go much further to avoiding future posts than berating users.

Also implicit in this thinking is an ASSUMPTION it is a homework question. Given that homework questions ideally are based on real world situations it is just possible that the situation advanced users see as basic and suspect to be homework questions may simply be real issues newbies are having to address.

The name of the site is Linux QUESTIONS .org - It always dismays me to see the number of posters here who seem truly bothered by questions of any sort. I often think: "Why does this person come here in the first place if questions bother them so much?" Of course I know the answer is that many come here to show off their own "genius" and forget that at one point they actually had to learn this stuff. No one was born knowing any of this.

I think that people respond to homework questions in this way because they know that the poster won't learn anything by asking someone else to do their homework for them. And, especially, the instructor won't know. I'm sensitive to this partly because sometimes I teach evening classes at local community colleges. The instructor is there not only to teach but also to offer oblique assistance, and it is critical that s/he be aware of how the material is "sticking in people's heads" or not.

If you are in a class, ostensibly to learn something from that class, and all that you do is to ask someone ... not for a clue, but outright to give you the answer ... then you are going to flunk that class. (And be frustrated all the way through it.) Every student learns in different ways, and programming is an unexpectedly-difficult task that also challenges their pride. So there's some politics involved; a certain decorum that has to happen between student and teacher. If you cheat ask someone else to do it for you, you're not learning. You're wasting your money and your time.

And as for "homework questions," have you ever tried to write one? It's harder than it looks.

I tend to disagree, which I know will probably shock you. We've all seen posters who then will post the SAME question in another forum (on this site, mind..), because it's been sitting unanswered a while. A no answer doesn't discourage the other posters who come with THEIR homework questions, but telling the first few to do their own work sets precedent, and may give that next person a pause and/or food for thought.
At times this indeed may be the case. But when someone posts something thats bleedingly obvious:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...6/#post5644507
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...5/#post5606079
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...3/#post5580283
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...5/#post5627591

..or when they qualify their 'work assignment' with "we're only allowed to use BASH, and only these three commands"...c'mon, really? When was the last time your boss came in and said "I need a program written to do XXX...but you're ONLY allowed to write it in THIS language, and you can't use any array's to do it"?
Quite right, no one was born knowing. But the big, HUGE difference for me is the enormous gulf between

"I don't know, but want to learn"
...and...
"I don't know, and I do not CARE to learn, but just want an answer"

And I hate to bring up the "old days", but it's a great allegory. Mid-1980's PC's: how did you configure them? DOS? A no brainer to load...the DEVICES?? Nope..no "plug and play", but jumpers. Had to actually READ the instructions, set jumpers, etc., and then load the driver(s) in the config.sys/autoexec.bat files manually. Some PC's would take HOURS, because some cards IRQ's couldn't be moved, some could, so you'd have to re-configure EVERYTHING to get one new card installed. If you were *INCREDIBLY LUCKY*, you had access to a modem and could find the phone # of the company's BBS (!!!!), where you *MIGHT, MAYBE* get help. You had to grind it all in, and had to WANT to learn, figure things out, etc.

Which is what makes this more frustrating these days...now, my friggin' phone has more CPU and memory than every single PC at the first place I worked in IT did. I can access the sum total of human knowledge from the palm of my hand, and can literally ASK my phone a question (in voice), and it'll go search for me. And when you have all this at your fingertips, and still get someone going "I have to write a script...pls to be helping with sample code"...are you kidding me? They find THIS site with a Google search, then stop.

How many folks here have seen any/all of these???

• Please give links for xxxx
• Where can I download Red Hat?
• What's the command for doing this?
• I need a code for yyyy urgently! Email to me at xxxxxxx

I've seen many people on this site post such things, and play what I call "forum tennis". Here's how this game works:

• Go to LinuxQuestions and post: "I need a bash script for xxx" - Receive a hint like "try looking at the man pages for grep and awk, with the -F flag for awk"
• Go to LinuxSiteAAA and post "I'm writing a bash script using awk and grep, and trying to do this. (insert two lines from LQ)", - Receive a few more lines of code
• Back to LQ "Ok, so I've got this <snip>...plz helping" - Receive a few more lines of code

...and Skippy now has his homework done with ZERO learning/ZERO effort, and will get his 'certification'/'diploma', and I'm confident will be an EXCELLENT worker.

I think you have an assumption here that these questions are harmless at worst. But they do cause some harm: they take away attention from other questions. I agree that berating the asker doesn't help though.

If by berating you mean something like "You lazy idiot...GTFO until you do your own work", then yes, that's not good. But pointing out that someone has shown no effort of their own, and is EXPECTED TO, isn't bad, in my opinion. Some folks need a nudge...some need a size 13 applied to the nethers with gusto.

"Caution: Egoes Present!"

I know that we never see each other, and that we're just writing words, but I think that it does bear repeating ... even when you know damn well that this is a homework question ... to treat the person with at least some modicum of respect, and to try to point them in the right way.

Foremost, to try to loop-them-in with their instructor. A lot of students are very reticent to ask their teacher anything, or to reveal that they don't know something.

And then, try to push them in the direction of the proper answer instead of handing it to them on a plate.

Type whatever ... ... ... ... emoticons you want to, then consider deleting them before you "Submit Reply."

This usually just causes the person to become defensive, and probably not really listen to anything you say. I think a better response to such questions is something along the lines of "what exactly are you having difficulty with?".

They take away attention, because the people who complain about these types of threads the most vocally, also type the greatest number of words in reply to them. If it's against LQ rules then it's a matter of enforcement, which makes it a matter for the administration (like spam) so hitting the report button seems like the best course of action.

The scolding and chastising about lazy users not searching or not doing their own research/RFTM has been going on at most Linux, *nix and computing related messageboards for decades and the problem has not gone away.

If they don't want to learn and don't want to be educated, the chances are they won't read or heed your attempts at education either... most people certainly won't respond well to all caps, bold lecturing and ordering. Neither those who can't/won't be helped, nor those who can.

It's like the forum rules irony - those who actually do read them, probably don't intend to break them anyway and thus don't need to...

...which gives you "I am needing a script, lol!", or some such answer. The user won't admit ANY culpability for not having an actual PROBLEM, because they'd have to then admit they haven't done the WORK involved to HAVE a problem.

Yes, such folks probably WILL get defensive and not listen...but they're not going to listen to "what exactly are you having difficulty with" either, because it's not their spoon-fed answer. They're not interested in putting effort in, or they would have shown it, and we've all seen it here before. Dancing around things when you can be direct doesn't help...say what's meant; call someone out on things wrong. I expect every one of my people to do it for me, and they do, and I'm thrilled about it...has saved me much embarrassment and $$$ over the years, because they didn't mince words.

Telling someone "Show us what you've done/tried first and we can try to help" is unambiguous.

Yes but what I want to know is why do they sign up for these courses in the first place if they don't want to learn anything?

But it's less likely to get into an emotional argument (which sucks even more attention away from other threads). Once they've failed to usefully respond to the initial request for clarification, they're off the 0-reply list, so it's best just to let the thread sink.

Maybe to get a certificate which "proves" they know things?