LMGTFY/RTFM/DUPE

It is very common for developers just becoming familiar with how open source projects work to ask questions that can very easily be answered with a google search or by reading the manual or by checking the list of existing tickets. You should always try to help answer your own questions by consulting existing resources before asking questions of others. If you feel like you have spent the time to carefully look for the answer, go ahead and ask, but you may be pointed at a resource you somehow overlooked.

Goals/Objectives/Outcomes

• Understand that “Google is your friend” and learn to use it effectively to search for programming related questions and error messages
• Understand how to look for project documentation and how to search it for answers first before asking for help
• Understand how to use resources like stackexchange to look for answers to questions
• Understand how to look at a project’s issue tracker for existing reports of the same issue

Reference Material

• http://www.google.com/advanced_search
• http://xkcd.com/293/
• http://lmgtfy.com/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RTFM

Measures of Success

• Participant understands that there are resources available to solve their own issues before asking other developers for help.
• Participant understands the importance of helping others learn to help themselves and becomes a mentor to others