Timeline for PSA: Please don't post images of text
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
16 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 15, 2016 at 17:26 | comment | added | phk | A lot of services like Google Docs and the Microsoft equivalent are trying to do OCR now, maybe this would be an overkill here but it would be nice nevertheless. The quality of the photo has to be good enough but smart phone cameras are getting better every year. | |
| Jul 12, 2016 at 16:11 | comment | added | terdon Mod | @FaridNouriNeshat that's an example where it's quite complex to set things up in order to copy and where it also requires a certain level of technical competence. Posting images for such cases is fine. This post is mainly for cases where posting the text simply involves copy/paste. | |
| Jul 12, 2016 at 15:07 | comment | added | cas | less work for the asker, more work for the readers / answerers. being inconsiderate of other people's time is a guaranteed way to encourage them to help. | |
| Jul 12, 2016 at 5:32 | comment | added | Farid Nouri Neshat | Here's an example: askubuntu.com/q/149443/32034 , Setting up a serial console sounds a lot of work though compared to just taking pictures. | |
| Jul 11, 2016 at 15:47 | comment | added | derobert | @muru actually, it's probably from the legal meaning of, e.g., the sign saying "no parking 9pm–6am" proves the general rule (that parking is allowed other times). See snopes, or Wikipedia, or English.SE. | |
| Jul 11, 2016 at 8:26 | comment | added | Toby Speight | Still better to use a serial console in this case (of course, the asker may still need to be pointed at the instructions to do so, if they're really so new). | |
| Jul 11, 2016 at 3:06 | comment | added | cas | @TomRoche - good idea. i'll hunt for a post and add a link. | |
| Jul 11, 2016 at 3:05 | comment | added | cas | @muru that 'exception that proves the rule' cliche uses and old, almost obsolete meaning of "prove" that (in current english) is roughly equivalent to "test" or even "challenge". i.e. it indicates a significant enough exception that the rule is put in doubt, or "to the test". | |
| Jul 11, 2016 at 2:43 | comment | added | TomRoche | @muru: exceptions never prove a categorical claim, they only disprove. No individual exception can disprove a probabilitic claim, but This is a very bad idea is hardly that. | |
| Jul 11, 2016 at 2:40 | comment | added | TomRoche | (part 2 of 2) @cat: ... A new user especially (and even more experienced but less intelligent users like myself) will probably not know which part of a boot spew is important; s/he should not be required to type it all in. | |
| Jul 11, 2016 at 2:40 | comment | added | TomRoche | (part 1 of 2) @cat: Precisely. My counterexample counters terdon's original point that posting screenshots is bad except (as is better expressed in cas' edit) when the problem is inherently visual (as opposed to textual). I also disagree with terdon's original point that if one can produce text, one should: as is always the case in life, one must account for cost and capability.... | |
| Jul 11, 2016 at 2:38 | comment | added | TomRoche | @cas: Thanks for adding my counterexample as a valid exception to terdon's claim--I was unsure whether that would be presumptuous. You might also point to instructions for setting up a serial console, since I'm guessing that, for a new user, that option will be not only unintuitive but unknown. | |
| Jul 10, 2016 at 12:46 | comment | added | muru | An exception that proves the rule? | |
| Jul 10, 2016 at 7:41 | comment | added | cas | If you can copy-paste the text then you should do so. If you can't, then that's almost always a valid reason to post a screenshot. Preferably not fuzzy and blurred and/or drowned out by the glare of the flash or the reflection of you and your camera from the screen :). | |
| Jul 10, 2016 at 0:05 | comment | added | cat | That's different than terdon's point, I think | |
| Jul 9, 2016 at 23:32 | history | answered | TomRoche | CC BY-SA 3.0 |