04-22-2021, 09:16 PM
Well,my first foray in the Linux world was in 2001 (Mandrake Traktopel IIRC) (also to replace OS/2, by the way) and there were not that many forums (and online time was expensive) so I got by on my own with Linux user magazines and the like. In 2010 I switched my work computer to Ubuntu and went for help on the Ubuntu forums (ubuntuforums.org). Not the very congenial bunch (a bit like here) but I never got the cold shoulder either. I also ask questions (and get answers) on kubuntuforum.net.
As to StackOverflow, Unix&Linux, ServerFault, SuperUser, AskUbuntu I have got 51K cumulated karma points so my experience maybe better that other people's, but on the whole if you ask a decent question, the worst that happens is that no-one answers. Of course from their origins these sites are geared towards the pros or at least the reasonably knowledgeable users but SuperUser and AskUbuntu are reasonably beginner-friendly. It is true that many questions get closed as duplicates, but they are closed with pointers to likely answers. And if the OP shows that s/he has already seen these other answers and that s/he thinks the question is a bit different s/he will get the answers for that specific case. And frustration runs both ways, you can go out of your way to provide a good answer and it is never acknowledged by the one who asked (I even had the case of someone who removed the "bounty" after I answered).
As to StackOverflow, Unix&Linux, ServerFault, SuperUser, AskUbuntu I have got 51K cumulated karma points so my experience maybe better that other people's, but on the whole if you ask a decent question, the worst that happens is that no-one answers. Of course from their origins these sites are geared towards the pros or at least the reasonably knowledgeable users but SuperUser and AskUbuntu are reasonably beginner-friendly. It is true that many questions get closed as duplicates, but they are closed with pointers to likely answers. And if the OP shows that s/he has already seen these other answers and that s/he thinks the question is a bit different s/he will get the answers for that specific case. And frustration runs both ways, you can go out of your way to provide a good answer and it is never acknowledged by the one who asked (I even had the case of someone who removed the "bounty" after I answered).