No One Reads Anything

When I first started learning how to use Linux more than a decade ago, I quickly encountered a phrase that you’ve no doubt seen as well if you’ve ever spent a day in the Linux community—RTFM, or Read the Flipping Manual.

Back then I used to think, like you probably do now, that such a phrase is dismissive, rude, and reinforces a stereotype of elitism held by gatekeepers who don’t want to help.

My mind changed a few years ago when I started writing pages for a software manual.

Imagine you’re an expert at something and your head is filled with answers to all kinds of questions people have. You desire to help everyone, so you answer each and every question posed at you. Over time, after answering many questions, you notice that no one is actually asking anything new. Every question is the same as another question you’ve been asked before—maybe dozens of time before.

What do you do?

If effectively every question has been asked (most of the time, people have particular details that change but the fundamental details remain the same) what is the best way to help as many people as possible? Surely, it must be to categorize each question, craft an optimized answer just general enough to be self-relatable, include specific examples showing how the general answer is translated to a specific use, and finally, publish that information freely for the world to use whenever it’s needed.

It’s a great idea. The only problem with it is no one reads anything.

2005 Toyota Camry Auto-Lock Situation

In September 2017, a Reddit user posted to the /r/Camry subreddit with a question about his vehicle. ¹ His 2005 Camry auto-locked while he was checking his trunk. The keys were in the ignition, the car was running, and all the doors were closed. He was outside his car for 30 seconds so the vehicle’s auto-lock feature kicked in and he was stuck, locked out of his car and his house.

Responses ranged across the board.

• One user expressed his sympathy, because it happened to him too
• Another suggested it was not the car, but an aftermarket security alarm causing the problem
• Another said he has the same model and it doesn’t do that
• Another suggested taking it to the dealer to see if it can be disabled
• Another still said it’s not possible to disable the feature

The post stayed up for over 8 years, and no one, at any point, suggested checking the car’s manual.

Finally, in April 2025 a user posted the answer everyone annoyed by the auto-lock feature was looking for. His description of what to do perfectly matched the steps outlined on page 25 of the manual (although he didn’t reference it, perhaps because he learned it from someone else instead).

The answer was received like a sweet gift from Heaven.

“Yo. This right here. Thank you. I have hated this feature in my car for 20 years and have recently moved to an area where I no longer need to lock my doors. It seems small, but when you put the car in park and all of the doors remain locked it’s so annoying but this disabled the auto lock feature 🙌😎✌🏻✌🏻”

A Reddit user, who waited 20 years for the answer to be posted to Reddit rather than reading the manual ²

RENT-A-HITMAN

rentahitman.com is a satire site which is written like the author is a character from The Sopranos, has jokes everywhere—including bulk discount pricing if you place hits on more than 3 people at a time, and even calls itself satire in multiple places.

This doesn’t stop some people from missing the joke, however.

The site’s operator, Robert Innes, has the following disclaimer on the contact page:

By submitting this application, you acknowledge that Rent-A-Hitman: Your Point & Click Solution is a legal parody website and does not condone or engage in illegal activities. Any real or incriminating requests will be promptly forwarded to law enforcement.

Despite this, he routinely receives real applications from people seeking to hire his services, or looking for employment themselves. One former military guardsman had his job application forwarded to the FBI, and he now faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of his charges. ³

Plucky

I have a lot of stories. Too many to consider even sorting through all of them and trying to make a coherent point that summarizes like the examples above.

I’ll just say that my favourite support case I’ve ever responded to was someone who was disturbed at how much Plucky was blocking, and how ‘all I wanted was for Plucky to do [exactly what the wimpy config is made for]’.

After I explained this detail to him and asked why he didn’t choose wimpy over classic when he did his initial configuration, he told me, ‘because I ain’t no wimp!’

Fair enough.

Is it True that No One Reads Anything?

Not exactly.

People read some things—like the guy who read the Reddit post that simply took information from his car manual and made it into a Reddit post.

There’s this line from the movie Fight Club that, paraphrasing, says people aren’t listening, they’re just waiting for their turn to speak.

Is it the same thing with reading? Do people just want to ask a question, and only read information that seems to be the direct answer to their question, rather than seeking someone else’s question in a manual and then thinking a little bit about how to apply it to their specific situation?

Am I sounding more angry about this than I should be?

Let me put it this way then:

I WTFM because I want people to RTFM. It’s not because I don’t want to help you. It’s because I want to help everyone.

If that makes sense, and you have any ideas, would you please tell me how to make someone more inclined to read?

Actually, forget it. You read this entire post; you’re not my target audience.