Every now and then, I scour the forums to see what the zero-reply threads are that are out there--there are many. The sad thing is that many of those will remain zero-reply threads. This is an open "letter" to those who have threads that will always be zero-reply threads:
Dear Frustrated User,
Please don't feel ignored. Someone was probably looking. She may not have actually looked at your thread, but she may have looked at the title. Someone cared or wanted to care. Your thread wasn't ignored--it just wasn't answered.
People here are very supportive and helpful when they can be. I'll tell you that 99% of the time when threads remain unanswered it's because no one knows the answer. Either your problem is too obscure, your hardware is too obscure, or the program you're having problems with is too obscure.
In rare cases, it may be a problem everyone has but doesn't know how to solve. When that occurs, someone (maybe it should be you) usually files a bug report at https://launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+bugs.
You have a few options if your posts remain unanswered:
1. Search for the answer yourself. The Ubuntu forums are quite comprehensive in terms of what they cover, but sometimes a Google search would better serve you. I've found Googling the exact text of errors is a good way to find how to fix those errors.
2. Wait. I had a couple of unanswered threads that got me down for a little bit. Randomly, they got answered weeks later (I'm not kidding).
3. Give up. If it's a non-essential program, maybe just don't deal with that program for now. If your entire installation doesn't work, maybe Ubuntu isn't for your hardware.
4. Rephrase your post. Sometimes if you give too little information or too much information (especially with no paragraph breaks), people just don't want to spend the extra time to understand what you're saying. Meet people half-way, and they'll more than likely meet you half-way and go beyond that half-way mark.
5. Bump your thread every twenty-four hours or so (not more than three or four times, though). Sometimes threads just get lost in the shuffle and need to appear at the top of the new threads search again.
Please don't feel ignored, though. If I thought it would, in any way, be productive to answer zero-reply threads and just say, "Hey, I can't answer your question, but I care about your problem," I would, but I think that'd just give people false hope when they see that someone's replied ("maybe that one response could be the answer to my problem...").
Also, remember that everyone (including forum staff) is a volunteer here. No one's obligated to help you. People will try to help as best they can, but please don't feel entitled to receive help. If you get it, great, and you probably will get some help, but if you don't get it, sorry--we're not Ubuntu gods here (I've seen some Ubuntu angels, though).
--aysiu
P.S. I'm not speaking on behalf of the forum administration. I'm speaking for me.
Adv Reply
Originally Posted by matthew
Should we post (sticky) something like this in the beginners forum so as to let every poster (new and old alike) will not feel frustrated with their unanswered posts.
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