[sf-lug] distro, etc. documentation/information on The Internet, from ... (was: Re: doing test installations into a virtual machine)

Michael Paoli Michael.Paoli at cal.berkeley.edu
Tue Feb 4 01:18:02 PST 2020


And as Rick (and myself, and others ...) have also said (in various
forms/wording) ... notably the implied/stated of:
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html#noprivate

> From: "Bobbie Sellers" <bliss-sf4ever at dslextreme.com>
> Subject: Re: [sf-lug] doing test installations into a virtual machine
> Date: Mon, 3 Feb 2020 20:35:45 -0800

> On 2/3/20 8:08 PM, Michael Paoli wrote:
>>> From: "Rick Moen" <rick at linuxmafia.com>
>>> Subject: Re: [sf-lug] (forw) Re:  SF-LUG meeting notes for Sunday 02022020
>>> Date: Sun, 2 Feb 2020 23:22:34 -0800
>>
>>> Bobbie wrote:
>>>
>>>> So far I have tried following the directions at this site but have
>>>> encountered problems due to various causes but mainly with the time it
>>>> takes to do the sequence of events involved in the installation.
>>>> <https://dephace.com/how-to-build-a-hacking-lab-with-virtualbox/>
>>
>> And ... why follow semi-random "advice" on The Internet?
> Because they are semi-intelligible and not overly weighted with  
> obscure terms familiar
> to CS Majors.

As you wish.  But realize too, that can be hazardous.  As I oft, at
least approximately say: about 20% of what's on The Internet is
anywhere from somewhat flawed/incomplete/incorrect, down to
dead wrong and downright dangerous.

So ... one would be well advised to be quite cautious about what
"advice" and such one is taking from where/whom/what, on The
Internet.  Official documentation from one's distro is generally
good/excellent - and typically quite authoritative - for matters,
software, etc. of/for/on one's distro.  Close behind (and sometimes
even better (e.g. Arch?) is wiki for one's distro.  After that,
things can go downhill rather fast.  Though there's good/excellent
out there, there's also tons of crud and bad or outdated stuff.
A distro's "user forums" can be a bit hazardous (users will state /
suggest all kinds 'o goop), but at least there, often/typically the
more informed will post better follow-ups/"corrections" and the like.
Similar for a distro's IRC or the like.  And - other stuff out there,
beyond the distro ... for much 'o stuff, ain't nobody from the distro
gonna fix it if someone puts bad/wrong info. out there.  If there's
a more active "community"/users/comments or the like out there
somewhere beyond distro, *sometimes* more knowledgeable folks will
correct bad info (and often limited to following bad info by posting
better info) ... but that's essentially outside the control of the
developers, support folks, etc. of the distro, and any given distro
has only so much resource ... none of 'em are gonna police all the
incorrect info out there on The Internet ... especially most (or all)
of that beyond the distro's own resources (web pages, etc.).

Good Luck!  And be careful.

>     snip.
> Thanks for your input, Michael Paoli.
>
>     Bobbie Sellers




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