Distros

RTFM was the battle cry of old, particularly in the days of Unix but carrying over into Linux. Standing for Read The Fine Manual (or something like that), it was a stock response from those who thought they knew it all to anyone who asked a simple question without checking the documentation.

Fortunately, the Linux community is a lot more civilised these days. Additionally, the distros have come on leaps and bounds in all areas of the user interface, so there’s no longer the need for many of the basic “How do I…” questions.

Is TFM heading for extinction? Absolutely not. While software becomes more accessible, they’ve also gained more features. So you can use most programs without reading the documentation, but using them effectively is another matter. Open source software is sometimes criticised for its documentation, but this has improved over recent years, especially with so many projects using wikis so that knowledgeable users can share that knowledge.

So the fine manual is finer than ever and, while you may think you don’t need it to use your software, you’re unlikely to be able to use it to its fullest without doing so. So that means RTFM is still a rallying cry!