I was a bit surprised it wasn't on there already, right next to LMGTFY. But I can't think of any reason it would be appropriate to put RTFM in a post or comment.
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1Irony: your post and this discussion would not have been possible with this rule enabled. :-) Also, we would see "R-T-F-M", "R.T.F.M." or "RTF*M" etc.– splattne ModCommented Oct 31, 2012 at 7:54
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Um, no... The Blacklists are per site. Apparently nobody understands how they work. =[– Chris S ModCommented Oct 31, 2012 at 13:09
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2If nobody understands how they work it can only be due the complete lack of documentation. When it comes to understanding how SE works ignorance is an excuse, because it's being carefully cultivated.– John GardeniersCommented Nov 1, 2012 at 3:33
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3 Answers
It sounds good at first glance, until you get into the details...
As of now there are 97 posts containing rtfm. Among them I see:
- Someone asking for the manual
- Someone who answered his own question with the manual
- RTFM appearing in program output
- RTFM used as an example similar to foo and bar
- Someone stating that they read the manual
One thing I didn't see from my short spot check was misuse of "RTFM". Such things should be dealt with on a case-by-case basis, as they are now.
answered Oct 30, 2012 at 15:55
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3If you ban "RTFM" on these grounds, you may as well ban "Google" on these grounds as well. Commented Oct 30, 2012 at 15:59
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Fine, don't rewrite them but block future posts from containing the acronym? I can't see how blocking "RTFM" is bad, when we block people from writing "Help" in a title..– pauskaCommented Oct 30, 2012 at 16:04
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"Why can't I paste the output of installing
rvminto a Server Fault question?" Commented Oct 30, 2012 at 16:05 -
Banning it wouldn't necessitate rewriting any existing questions... We can also make an exemption for when the content contains "RVM" as well. I'm a bit miffed that RVM even does that. The rest, I really don't see self-deprecation as an excuse. But I'll agree that it may need some more thought.– Chris S ModCommented Oct 30, 2012 at 16:51
RTFM is (was) an actual product - It is entirely conceivable that we would encounter questions about this product (as a component of the relatively common RT ticketing system), and there are parts of RT that still refer to "RTFM" even though it's no longer a discrete product.
It would be rather unpleasant for us to turn around and tell someone they can't ask their question because the name of the product they're asking about is a bad word.
More broadly, I would rather not see us applying word-bans to correct bad behavior - If people are being dicks we have existing tools (peer pressure, edits, mod messages, suspensions, whomping shovels, personal responsibility) to deal with this, and I'm all for applying those tools liberally.
I think word bans should be saved for truly egregious problems (like LMGTFY), spam, etc.
answered Oct 30, 2012 at 19:58
Sorry but sometimes RFTM is the correct answer. We see far too many posts which would never have been required if the asker had simply done the right thing and read the documentation.
Instead of creating a blanket ban on the term shouldn't we instead simply close any questions where RTFM is given in either an answer or a comment? Don't treat the symptom. Treat the disease instead.
