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The absolute worst is situations like this: User: I have a problem I haven't been able to google. Whenever this very specific situation occurs, I am having thi

The absolute worst is situations like this: User: I have a problem I haven't been able to google. Whenever this very specific situation occurs, I am having this problem. Any advice? Other Users: (Lots of ideas, no solution.) User: Nevermind, I figured it out, thanks! ...WHAT DID YOU DO TO FIX IT?

csa 3y ago
> ...WHAT DID YOU DO TO FIX IT? I think the general assumption when the reply lacks specificity is that it’s something embarrassingly routine like “I checked to make sure that the device was plugged in” or some variant thereof. It’s not a 100% safe assumption, but I think this is the answer more often than not.
- kwhitefoot 3y ago
  Even telling the world that can be useful because what is embarrassingly routine for you might be entirely unknown to someone else. Plus it is simply polite.
- tsuujin 3y ago
  Honestly the best part of troubleshooting is when I find out I was just being a massive dumbass the entire time. I go tell my team, friends, wife, etc, “I fixed it, I was just a dumbass, all I had to do was [thing]” and I revel in it because that shit is funny. The angrier I am while troubleshooting, the funnier that reveal is for everyone.
  - thealienthing 3y ago
    I regularly inform my coworkers of my dumbass status. It’s funny and keeps me humble
actionfromafar 3y ago
I like to pretend they entirely changed solutions, like switching from Java to PHP or the other way around. The lies we tell ourselves…
btilly 3y ago
Where I have encountered this, the path to a solution requires discovering that the problem is a generic error message that has an unbelievable number of different possible causes. And in the process of solving that, the specific problem was incredibly specific. For example Django is very good at giving a small number of (useless) error messages for a wide variety of things that can keep it from starting up properly.

csa 3y ago

> ...WHAT DID YOU DO TO FIX IT? I think the general assumption when the reply lacks specificity is that it’s something embarrassingly routine like “I checked to make sure that the device was plugged in” or some variant thereof. It’s not a 100% safe assumption, but I think this is the answer more often than not.

kwhitefoot 3y ago
Even telling the world that can be useful because what is embarrassingly routine for you might be entirely unknown to someone else. Plus it is simply polite.
tsuujin 3y ago
Honestly the best part of troubleshooting is when I find out I was just being a massive dumbass the entire time. I go tell my team, friends, wife, etc, “I fixed it, I was just a dumbass, all I had to do was [thing]” and I revel in it because that shit is funny. The angrier I am while troubleshooting, the funnier that reveal is for everyone.
- thealienthing 3y ago
  I regularly inform my coworkers of my dumbass status. It’s funny and keeps me humble

actionfromafar 3y ago

I like to pretend they entirely changed solutions, like switching from Java to PHP or the other way around. The lies we tell ourselves…

btilly 3y ago

Where I have encountered this, the path to a solution requires discovering that the problem is a generic error message that has an unbelievable number of different possible causes. And in the process of solving that, the specific problem was incredibly specific. For example Django is very good at giving a small number of (useless) error messages for a wide variety of things that can keep it from starting up properly.