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Yeah unfortunately this is a real issue. I also think it's an issue that experienced users don't really want to help newbies, especially those who can't or won't do research by themselves. Ideally experienced users would be more helpful, but at the same time that isn't their job. There are many who learned Linux more or less on their own so it's understandable they don't want to help given they didn't use any help when it was their turn. I think now that the community is growing this might start to change a bit, as the newcomers are more likely to have had help and be willing to help others.
I sometimes try to advocate for using Linux, and I don't mind giving friends advice from time to time. That being said I don't want to be stuck answering stupid questions all the time that could have been solved with a google search or a YouTube video. I have my own stuff to worry about both technical and otherwise.
That's why I think teaching new users how to access resources like man pages, gnu info pages, google, and so on is the correct approach to take. It is empowering having the skills to work through your own issues. That being said I also think it's important for experienced people to give advice on more complex questions.
that could have been solved with a google search
This is very quickly becoming untrue. Actually, I'd argue that it's been somewhat not the case for some situations, that I've personally encountered, for over a decade. There's times when I search forums for days, finally find someone who's experiencing the exact same issue as me. The post is marked solved! Fuck yeah!
The post:OP: Hey guys, I'm trying to fix xyz and I'm not able to find anything on it. Could I get some help?
Two months after initial post:
Only reply is OP: Nevermind guys, I figured it out.
Me: FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!
Are you honestly telling me there aren't people asking basic questions that could be solved with a google search? Don't get me wrong the kind of question you are talking about does exist, but that's now what I am discussing here.
Oh, no totally, there's people asking questions that Google used to be able to answer. Google is now a burning tire fire, and getting a useable answer from it can now be a full time job...is what I'm saying.
Then you use DuckDuckGo like I do. Not every search engine has gone to complete shit. Google was just an example. Obviously it's not the current meta in terms of search engines.
Ok, tell me how many people who would be using Linux, that might have issues looking up things, that wouldn't default to Google. There's a significant portion of the population that thinks Google is the only search engine.
Someone using Linux Mint would be a good guess as I don't think they default to Google.