Not pleased with this URL software


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Thread: Not pleased with this URL software

  1. #1
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    Not pleased with this URL software

    I am upset anyway, and needed help with my computer after a visitor used it for what I suspect is music piracy. Being upset I forgot to type my posting on a word processor. When I sent it, IT HAD TIMED OUT and I was unable to access my typing after log in and using BACK as it instructed.

    So, as much as I need help, I am going to wait till another day. This did not help my mood.

  2. #2
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    May I be the first to say...HUH?

  3. #3
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    Not hard to understand

    The board has a short time-out. Part of the increasingly unfriendly attitude over the ten years I have been a member in the desire of the officials to minimize participation. Note that I have been commenting on the unfriendly policies for some years, this is not new. The only reason I come here at all is habit after being a member it its good days.

    During typing, it often times out, and requires you to log-in again. It would not matter if it kept the message intact, but it does not always. Usually, if it times out, I copy and paste it, but because of the stressful, unpleasant weekend, I forgot and did what it said.

    I had a bad week-end and needed help with something someone unpleasant did to my computer. While I typed, it timed-out and when I logged on, it told me to hit BACK to my message, but the message was gone, and after all that, I did not feel like typing it in again.

    Since we have a failure to communicate, let me shout it out:

    THE TIME OUT PERIOD IS TOO SHORT.

    Now, do you get it? Not that I think it was that complex.

  4. #4
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    I have written voluminous posts here and never timed out. I rarely even have to login again but I set settings to remember me.
    I equivocate, therefore I might be.

    My Linux/Unix Boxes:
    Home: Slackware 10, CentOS 5.3, RHEL 5, Ubuntu Workstation 9.10, Work: RHEL 5, CentOS 5

  5. #5
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    I know what your talking about as I have made a few post here myself....I have got in the habit of copying long posts....sort of a "Oughta Save" (auto-save).
    "I was pulled over for speeding today. The officer said, "Don't you know
    the speed limit is 55 miles an hour?" And I said, "Yes, but I wasn't going
    to be out that long."

    How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
    COME VISIT ME IN RUSSIA NOW!!

  6. #6
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    A Little History

    Quote Originally Posted by klackenfus View Post
    I have written voluminous posts here and never timed out. I rarely even have to login again but I set settings to remember me.
    That is, of course good to know that it never times out on you. Unfortunately, it does me no good to know that because it times out on me a lot. Normally one can hit BACK after logging in, and the message is still there. In this case, it wasn't.

    This might be a good time to recite the history of this URL. I came here in 1999 and the index on the home page scrolled off in a few minutes, never more than half an hour or so. Right now, the index covers more or less 8 days, versus a few minutes in 1999.

    There were IT pro's who posted here, they obviously had Linux in their corporate environments. One of the early charges against Linux, which is still present, is that with Windows one had support available and Linux had none. From time to time an IT guy would point out that on Windows if he had a problem he would call the support number, sit there on hold, unable to move for a couple hours, then get a script dork who wanted to make sure the computer was plugged in and turned on, and if it was they really couldn't help. With Linux, he posted on this URL with its original name, and went back to work. Two hours later, he would check in with this URL, and in most cases the answer was there.

    I will be brutally frank. A lot of newbies in that era simply would not be using Linux today if it hadn't been for this URL, which is why I formed the habit of coming here, even when for some time it has probably not been a good habit. What little documentation that existed was actually counter-productive, and filled with errors. The relatively primitive search engines in those days found few pages on Linux, unlike today where Google should be your first resource. It took about 100 hours in those days to begin to grasp what Linux was about. Not to become an expert; just to get a basic handle on it. I was retired and I stuck to it.

    The workload on the staff in those days must have been amazing. Eventually, changes were made to reduce their workload, which is certainly the right of the staff. No one is obliged to give free boards to the public.

    The problem is, when the workload dropped to a certain level, those IT guys could no longer get an answer in real time for the professional environment. Thus the original complaint that no support was available for Linux became much more relevant.

    Other boards were formed, often distro specific. For a while this worked great, probably better than a generic board like this.

    And, in those days, there were 'nice' boards, where people did not emit sarcasm or insults, but made an effort to work with people, even at times dummies.

    That has also gradually changed.

    Do you know how many jerks it takes on a board to alienate and drive away forever a confused newbie? I am not sure, but in my personal experience it takes only one or two, if he is allowed by the moderators to post his nasties.

    I am moderator of a social issues board. We allow no personal attacks. No flames. Perhaps the first, if not too bad, might be edited, with a PM. The second, they are banned. It is amazing how people can perform at their best if nothing less is tolerated. The quality of a board is a direct result of the moderators and their various policies, I guarantee you.

    There are a number of distro boards which allow nasties and I no longer go there, and do not recommend the distro as well. If you cannot get polite support, the distro is not the one for you.

    Knoppix; Mepis; Mandriva (users.org); Kubuntu used to be the best on the Web, that is no longer true. A few weeks ago, a man came on Kubuntu. His friends had all dumped Kubuntu, but he stuck to it a great amount of time, and in the end was totally burned out. He did a fine rant. Here was a great opportunity to help someone and keep him in the Linux fold. Instead, he was called a troll, and told not to let the door hit him on the way out. You can be sure he didn't. Then people started bad-mouthing him because he didn't come back and work with the board to get help with his problems. Only a sick person would come back for more after being treated like that.

    There is a simple concept. If a member is offended by someone like that, hit BACK and let it go. There are helpful people who will work through the venting, who can handle it. Yet, the nasty people just absolutely have to clobber the person who is already upset enough.

    When an MS fanboy makes sarcastic remarks about the Linux community and how nasty and arrogant, etc., they are, it really angers me. But, then I realize that is alas the image we present when our boards are unfriendly. Even one nasty on a board will permanently alienate anyone who rouses his childish ire.

    My point is, just where can someone go to get a timely polite answer first time every time? I am going to be looking, but unless a newbie is plain lucky, he is more likely to hit insults and flames than a nice board, which is really sad.

    So, does this matter? Well, yes, of course it does. Year after year now, for ten years, Linux enthusiasts have been predicting next year will be the year Linux takes off, and the hot apps, such as Photoshop or Autocad will be ported to Linux. Yet, in the US, the numbers really don't change that much. And as long as a lot of boards are unfriendly, though they are the only support available for most people, the numbers aren't going to be there.

    I put my question on CentOs forums, and do not ever expect an answer, though I will be pleased if I am wrong. I will play with it, though I do not have confidence. It is unlikely that I will drop Linux, because being retired, I can put unreasonable amounts of time into solving problems, but most people can't do that. And, I would rather take a beating than boot to Windows if I can avoid it.

  7. #7
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    I simply do not understand you.
    I have been on different foras for many years, almost all my problems solved. Unfriendly people? Very very rare!
    And if you meet one unfriendly person in a park, you boycott the park??
    But of course, if your posts are like this one, I can understand why you get unfriendly replies. I must say I did react on your second comment
    Since we have a failure to communicate, let me shout it out:

    THE TIME OUT PERIOD IS TOO SHORT.

    Now, do you get it? Not that I think it was that complex.
    That was rude. I thought "OK, he's upset, I'll just forgive him for this one."
    Please realize, you are likely to get the kind of replies you deserve.

    The amount of Linux foras has exploded, JustLinux is today one of the smaller. So what? You want a big fora, search and you'll find them.
    I like both kinds - big foras = lots of people, more likely someone has an answer.
    On the other hand, you never get to know them, and worse - your question is out of sight after a few hours.
    Small fora = sometimes no answer, takes longer to get an answer - but your questin is alive a week or more! And it's very nice to keep talking to the same people!
    In pingvino veritas!

  8. #8
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    If my post was offensive i'm sorry that was far from the intention. Your first post was very confusing, there was a rant wrapped around the problem. On top of that I've never seen my login time out, maybe if I haven't checked in a few weeks I need to relogin but never during. Yes the hitting the back button brings you back to a cleared box often but not always, I see this on almost every forum I've used though. I've had plenty of those "wasted" posts, very annoying I agree!

    If the pages are timing out for you and not anyone else I'd suspect there's a problem with your cookies expiring or getting deleted somehow. Which browser are you using?

  9. #9
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    In your defense, I've had the same things happen to me. Not here yet, I've not made any big post. Yet I've been burned! I have a habit now of right clicking and copying everything I am posting about, just in case, then its just paste and I'm on my way. The PClinux forums were bad about it for a while, thats where I learned to make darn sure I've copied it before hitting post!

    Q3

  10. #10
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    Did you get a timeout sending this one?

    Quote Originally Posted by irlandes View Post
    That is, of course good to know that it never times out on you. Unfortunately, it does me no good to know that because it times out on me a lot. Normally one can hit BACK after logging in, and the message is still there. In this case, it wasn't.
    INSERT WAR AND PEACE
    I put my question on CentOs forums, and do not ever expect an answer, though I will be pleased if I am wrong. I will play with it, though I do not have confidence. It is unlikely that I will drop Linux, because being retired, I can put unreasonable amounts of time into solving problems, but most people can't do that. And, I would rather take a beating than boot to Windows if I can avoid it.
    FWIW I think newbie traffic has remained constant, but there are a lot more sources of help nowadays. More websites, blogs, forums, IRC channels....
    Last edited by je_fro; 09-26-2009 at 08:23 PM.
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  11. #11
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    I totally hear you Irlandes! This is the 4th forum I've come, seeking an answer to my problem. It doesn't help that I might be operating on "intuition" of which OTHERS call "paranoria". When I'm in trouble I just seem to know, so I start looking about, trying to find what might be a problem. So far nobody is listening to me, and many have given me rude and sarcrastic replies. But I persist because I really do believe there's a security breech in Linux... and maybe in ALL distros, I just can't find it! Worse, I don't know how to look for it. I try to outline everything that occurred that led me to the point I became convinced that my computer is compromised, but it's such a long (LONG) and complicated story, it fills pages! I'm looking for a place here in the forums to post my questions and a possible problem. I'm hoping people will listen and and give me pointers. Thank you for speaking up. I cannot begin to help myself if I don't even know where to look!

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kntbrat View Post
    I totally hear you Irlandes! This is the 4th forum I've come, seeking an answer to my problem. It doesn't help that I might be operating on "intuition" of which OTHERS call "paranoria". When I'm in trouble I just seem to know, so I start looking about, trying to find what might be a problem. So far nobody is listening to me, and many have given me rude and sarcrastic replies. But I persist because I really do believe there's a security breech in Linux... and maybe in ALL distros, I just can't find it! Worse, I don't know how to look for it. I try to outline everything that occurred that led me to the point I became convinced that my computer is compromised, but it's such a long (LONG) and complicated story, it fills pages! I'm looking for a place here in the forums to post my questions and a possible problem. I'm hoping people will listen and and give me pointers. Thank you for speaking up. I cannot begin to help myself if I don't even know where to look!
    Maybe the replies are rude and sarcastic because you don't expressly state your problem but rather post as if trolling. Get to the point!!!
    "I was pulled over for speeding today. The officer said, "Don't you know
    the speed limit is 55 miles an hour?" And I said, "Yes, but I wasn't going
    to be out that long."

    How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
    COME VISIT ME IN RUSSIA NOW!!

  13. #13
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    Unhappy

    Quote Originally Posted by JohnT View Post
    Maybe the replies are rude and sarcastic because you don't expressly state your problem but rather post as if trolling. Get to the point!!!
    I am not a poet so I'm not aiming to "expressly state" my problem. Nor was I actually stating a problem here. I merely agree with Irlandes comments about rude, sarcrastic people, of which you've just proven HIS point. And let me add something to that list... IMPATIENCE. Why do you think you can help people with an attitude like that? I don't even know what "trolling" is... which is why I am in the NEWBIE'S CORNER. When I DO find a place to state my problem I won't be looking for YOU to help. Have a nice day!

  14. #14
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    Welcome to justlinux.... bwaaahaahaahhaaaaaa
    Need help in realtime? Visit us at #linuxnewbie on irc.libera.chat

    Few of us will do as much for our fellow man as he has done.
    --Andrew Morton on RMS

  15. #15
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    Now you have made my day je_fro! Funny guy! Have a crazy nite!

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