Unix Question About Date Stamps

[Charles Buckley]

Summary: RTFM as an answer is unacceptable
The number of postings I have seen on the `touch' drama compels me to
add a word.  I am over in Europe, so this should make it back to the
main net stream well after the adrenalin has subsided.  

The `audit trail' of this posting series is:
>  In article <850 at ihlpf.UUCP> straka at ihlpf.UUCP (Straka) writes:
>  >> In article <808 at mtund.UUCP> adam at mtund.UUCP (Adam V. Reed) writes:
>  >> >>      How can one change the date/time stamp of a file?
>  >> >See touch(1) in the User Reference Manual (RTFM!).
>  >>    The original poster
>  >> the file...he wants to put *any* time on the file.  There are three
>  >No, no, 'touch' provides the current time stamp as a *default*.
>  >The syntax (at least on SVR2) for touch is:
>  O.K., enough is enough!  . . . 
>  Please use a little common sense when posting.  . . .

As I see it, the large number of postings this simple question
engendered were not due to the question itself; many such simple
questions are posted to this newsgroup and answered by mail all the time.

Different about this case was the initial response posted, containing the
letters RTFM, meaning "read the f**king manual".  Once this had been
done, m a n y chimed in, either with concrete support (answering the
original question in earnest) or moral support.

As things evolved, consensus seemed to develop that those who post
such questions should be specific about versions, etc.  What I did not
see (and I feel many would have wanted to see this) was for someone to
take issue with the guy who blurted back RTFM.  

Since the Unix `manual' is a set comprising some nine books, the idea
of `reading' it is absolutely ludicrous.  How many people do you think
who snap RTFM at others when they know of some tidbit in the manual
that others overlooked have actually done what they `preach'?  I see
this as a practice of a kind of `knowledge rascism' - using
incidental circumstances (here ignorance) to put another at an
emotional disadvantage.  It reflects badly on s/he who practices it.

Depending on the version of Unix used, manual indexing ranges from
fair to really sad.  As I understand it, net.unix is not for experts,
its for novices - battle-scarred gurus have net.unix-wizards.
Novitiate status can also have to do with swimming through the manual
sea.  As such, net.unix is a valid place to seek help - such questions
should not be dumped upon, and certainly not in public.  Just imagine,
perhaps this person's boss is in the habit of snarling RTFM too!

Charles Buckley			mcvax!ethz!jungfrau!ceb
-- 

Dr. Charles E. Buckley			uucp: mcvax!ethz!jungfrau!ceb
					earn: BUCKLEY at CZHETH5A

Institut fuer Integrierte Systeme	
ETH-Zentrum
CH-8092 Zuerich (Suisse)
Tel: 01/256 5245 (national)
   +411 256 5245 (international)