This is how the Linux forums worked. A practical example (humor)

This is how Linux forums worked that before social networks and video tutorials, they were one of the ways to learn and find answers to your doubts. A forum was a website where a user proposed a topic (or a question) and the others could respond to him or to the other answers. In the case of Linux forums, they had certain peculiarities that someone decided to explain with a practical example.

At the time I translated, adapted and published a version of the original in Portuguese. But since one of the blogs I used as a source is no longer available, the other is invite-only, and I deleted my translation from where it was originally posted, I thought it would be interesting to post a revised version on Linux Adictos.

This is how the Linux forums worked. How to change a light bulb

No matter what the theme was, the longer the thread was made, if the participants were Linux users, their development would follow a predictable path.

This is how the Linux forums worked:

1 user writes a post saying that a light bulb (electric bulb) burned out and that he wants to know how to change it.

• The first answer asks you to record a video of what happens when the light is turned on to get more information about the problem.
• The next 5 posts are from users who more or less politely tell you to use the forum search engine or Google.
• Another forum user takes advantage of the thread to ask how to fix a leaky faucet.
• Immediately another user responds to this one not to hijack the thread.
• Someone asks the original author which bulb he wants to install.
• The fanatic of precision cannot be absent clarifying that it is incorrect to say that the lamp burned because there was no combustion and that the failure was caused by an excess of electrical current.
• 25 proposals follow which light bulb should be installed by the user.
• Someone very knowledgeable clarifies that the problem is not the bulb, it is the voltage variation due to faults in the electrical network and that there is already a bug published on the GitHub of the developers of the bulb.
• Another member who goes to know what he does in the forum suggests the installation of a Microsoft brand light bulb.
• The 250 responses that follow make references to the mother of the previous one.
• Another 300 say Microsoft light bulbs turn blue and need to be turned off and on again.
• A former Linux user who is now a Mac user and continues to visit the forum from time to time, proposes the installation of the iBombilla, which although it costs three times, has a fresh and innovative design.
• 20 responded that iBulbs are not free and in addition to being expensive, they have less performance than those of their competitors.
• 15 suggest the installation of a light bulb whose development is supported by a national or local government.
• 30 are opposed because the lamps whose development is supported by local or national governments are those imported with another box.
• 23 forum members hotly discuss whether the light bulb should be white or transparent.
• You can not miss the one that reminds others that the correct name is GNU / Bombilla.
• Then comes the one who claims that real Linux users are not afraid of the dark.
• The original user announces which bulb he decided on.
• 217 criticize the decision and suggest another without justifying their opinion.
• Another 6 do so based on the fact that the chosen bulb has proprietary elements.
• 20 defend the decision on the grounds that free bulbs are not compatible with the light switch.
• The previous 6 answer that this is solved by changing the key for another that is compatible.
• One who got tired writes "STOP ARGUING AND EXCHANGE THAT BULB FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!"
• 350 require the former to clarify what God is talking about and require him to present proof of his existence.
• Someone assures that one should not trust the bulbs manufactured by corporations and that only those developed by the community should be used.
• Another provides a link to a Word file that tells how to make a light bulb.
• 14 complain that it is Word and that I send it in a free format.
• 5 they tell the first user to take a course to do their own electrical installation that allows them to install a free light bulb.
• Another proposes to solve the switch problem by directly connecting the light fixture to the main line.
• The first user responds that he tried but could not find the main line.
• Someone else remembers that to access the main line you must have the authorization of the electricity company.

While the discussion continues, the father of the first user went to the supermarket and bought the cheapest light bulb.

Fonts

The first version of This is how Linux forums worked I published it in 2013 on my blog with another title. It was based on two texts in Portuguese published in the blogs andremachado.org, and tutorfree

In addition to mine there was a Spanish version of The replicant's gaze
None of the links are already available.