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Comment by FunnyLookinHat | Hacker News Reader

I've had similar experiences with git or other tools - not being able to help a junior dev because the GUI they're using is obfuscating whatever it is the underlying tool is trying to do. I think the irony is that we've got this insanely complex version control system that actually could have several valid use cases for what is likely a common path for users in a GUI.

I'm also not sure referring to people as "noobs" is going to help you empathize with their difficulty. ;)

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Eh, that term seems to have fallen out of favor compared to when I was a growing up but I don't think it necessarily has a negative connotation.

I remember being in programming and software related IRCs at 10-11 years old having no earthly clue what in the fuck I was doing, asking adults questions and getting called a "noob".

Well, yeah, it was true. (I also made damn sure they had no idea I was a child.)

They could have said "inexperienced person" but that's not got quite the same ring and people are lazy, aye? Haha

My personal experience around noob is covered by the ones I found on ~~most~~ edit: the most high search-ranked online explanations: Mostly negatively conotated, deregatory version of newbie. Often associated with people not sufficiently able to learn or at least not learning on their own.

Examples:

* https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/noob

* https://www.etymonline.com/word/noob

Examples not containing the negative connotation:

* https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/noob

* https://neologisms.rice.edu/index.php?a=term&d=1&t=2471

It might be something used quite differently by two similar groups, so it is good to be aware that other people may use it the other way.

I often see people self-describe as noobs when asking technical questions, for example in programming Reddits. I couldn't say that I understand the reason for it, though.

Noob is the first step to being a master. So, those "noob"s are indicating they're early in the process.

Saying you're a novice when asking for help can be useful. People will use less jargon and point to more accessible resources, etc.

I've been around long enough and in enough circles that I have seen 'noob' go from mildly chiding to full-on insult. It used to be that in some communities, being referred to as a noob was a sort of "hey check out the new guy" ribbing. A noob was just someone starting out, a neophyte. It was the impatient and rude who later decided that being a noob was a bad thing.

“Hey can you help me? I stood up a kratr pod and it’s lined to fundle but for some reason when I try to press the bin tree to the overlay layer the reznik instance on my laptop says ‘out of tokens’. Have you ever encountered this?” No, no I have not.

Having been troubleshooting computers since I was literally 8 years old (like I'm sure many of us here have) I feel reasonably comfortable I could at least be helpful solving this problem as well.

Every problem I have to troubleshoot is almost by definition one I've never encountered before.

100% Great attitude. I’ll meet you where you are and help out.

I can help. It doesn’t mean I’ve encountered it before.

Yup - Every darn time. Reminds me of "How it feels to learn JavaScript in 2016" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12628921

Nothing has changed in 5 years, has it?

Let's hope not, then I can use it as a template.

The more things change, the more they stay the same

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