Isn't this supposed to be the forum faq?
http://wiki.linuxquestions.org/wiki/Slackware-FAQ

And yes, I know it's completely outdated. It doesn't have to stay that way.

No one reads stickies. That's a given. My post was slightly facetious. Also a given. Thus, because no one reads stickies, I completely forgot that Onebuck's post was stickied.

However, by keeping the wiki up to date and adding ones that are missing, you can then say "go to this entry on the wiki and post back if anything is unclear". Everyone benefits and the effort is less.

Potential Slackware users are born every day. That's why the same questions are seen over and over. My thing is, if I know the answer, I'm going to give it up. In doing so, I believe the new user will be further encouraged. Its ok to point to docs and links for further study, but a new user may just not understand - then become discouraged.

No Teacher gives a book to a student, says read this - test on Friday. They also take time to go over the material and prep the student for that test. While independent study is good, it just can't take the place of a competent tutor.

I do not like, nor do I use the term "newbie". The reason is that I try to learn something new everyday, which makes me "new" all the time.

I do not have a problem with a FAQ, just an automatic response to read that first before help arrives.

I'm not saying a complete, in-depth HOW-TO on all things Slackware.

Just a sticky saying (using my previous example of "Kernel Panic") :

In other words, the common Frequently Asked Questions that are asked, and answered(very nicely, I may add) day after day after day after day...I don't propose we turn into a RTFM forum, or even "Read the sticky". I'm just saying, if there WERE a sticky FAQ, it MAY answer questions w/out the newuser having the post the question.

And while onebucks post is VERY useful, it is not titled "Frequently Asked Questions". I, for one, when I first go to a forum, actually LOOK for a FAQ, or at least open it to see what it contains.

In other words, we could TRY

A locked sticky pointing to the LQ slackware FAQ page would suffice....

http://wiki.linuxquestions.org/wiki/Slackware-FAQ

we can all edit that page... the thread can even tell the user how to type in a new question, then it can be answered directly on the wiki.

Why arn't we already doing this?

perfect!

cwwilson721.........this was meant as a joke.

I know that. But in other forums for ....erm..."other distros", it's a way of life, and I really would hate to see that happen here.

The best thing about this forum is I rarely ever see that. And if it IS posted, the poster is usually called out on it.

But I think this has been resolved anyway

What I find disappointing are the people too quick to jump to RTFM, even when you share what you have read and post a direct question relation to where you think the problem is.

Hello together,

in my opinion Slackware lacks a modern official documentation.

I've turned from Slackware to Gentoo last summer and found that there is a remarkable difference in the documentation between the two distros.

The Gentoo-Manuals explain even relatively new concepts very well. When looking for Slackwares documentation one finds the Slackbook. But what when I look into the Index? no udev, no hal, no cups.

When searching www.slackware.org one is leaded to linuxquestions.org as the main forum for Slackware. So the newbies ask there questions here.

I think if you want to change this you will have to create a more up-to-date "official" documentation. Otherwise in my opinion in this forum one can get all information he needs and this on a very high level. It is a great advantage of Slackware that questions are often answered by contributors like Alien Bob or Robby Workman, this is the strength of Slackwares community.

Well, thats what I think about this issue when comparing Slackware and Gentoo. Both are great distros and with both one will find all answers one needs. With an additional FAQ there would be no additional information.

Markus

The most current versions of the SlackBook can be found at http://slackbook.org/ - but as it is a volunteer effort, it will always be behind the times. Maybe we need to petition O'Reilly or Apress to publish regular Slackware books?

The status for the new slackbook changed from "Sometime during mid 2009" to ""beta" should be online here in a few more months." I'm guessing that edit was fairly recent, so I guess mid 2010 is the new official release date.

make the posting mechanism so complicated that it forces users to search how to post first...