Everything2
Near Matches
Ignore Exact
Full Text
Everything2

worse than useless

created by Frater 219

(idea) by Frater 219 (4.8 y) (print)   ?   I like it! Thu Jan 18 2001 at 0:27:00

Describes advice, documentation, or other information which, if followed, leaves you worse off than you would have been without it. For instance, if you have a hard disk crash and lose work, someone might recommend that you keep all your files on floppy disk instead. Given that floppies are less reliable than hard disks, this advice is worse than useless.

Out-of-date software documentation is often worse than useless. For a while, ISC was distributing an old version of the BIND FAQ along with BIND. The FAQ documented the obsolete named.boot file format, which the BIND named no longer understood. One could follow the FAQ and write a named.boot file, only to find that no amount of careful debugging would make named accept it -- it expected the new named.conf format. Thus, this FAQ could be regarded as worse than useless.

A tool may also be worse than useless. For instance, using the wrong size screwdriver on a Phillips screw may not only fail to drive the screw in, but also strip it. One could even, in a fit of annoyance, refer to some people's "help" as worse than useless.


printable version
chaos

Look siad me Be like me misinformation broken Misfeature
Caps Lock Quad damage buff "Manos" the Hands of Fate
Life is half over at age 10 The Tofu for Health Cookbook Bind verbing
Building Linux Clusters example code Twin Peaks documentation
2004 US Presidential Election inability to urinate in public PHP E2 chatterbox XML ticker parser useless
Nomic
Y'know, if you log in, you can write something here, or contact authors directly on the site. Create a New User if you don't already have an account.
  Epicenter
Login
Password

password reminder
register

Everything2 Help

Cool Staff Picks
What you are reading:
Penises have higher bandwidth than cable modems
Timeline of the Proxima Shared Universe
Jack Kevorkian
ad maiora natus sum
Zoroastrianism
bipolar disorder
Tales of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show"
An area the size of Wales
runcible spoon
Dizzy and Katyana's Wedding Vows
Windows 1.x
They shared a love of impermanence, briefly
Hand
New Writeups
locke baron
Multiple Myeloma(thing)
SubSane
blonde, freckles, skinny, short(person)
arcanamundi
A Ruba'iyat for May(person)
riverrun
Timed Writing(idea)
auraseer
Fling(fiction)
StrawberryFrog
Iron Man(review)
devolution
Misogyny and Porn, East to West - An Empirical Analysis(idea)
devolution
Korea is a place that refuses to stand still(idea)
Beanie127
The Pacifist Soldier(fiction)
VergilKint
Distilled from Dreams(fiction)
Scaevola
Roman marriage(thing)
rootbeer277
m&m's Ice Cream Treats(review)
Transitional Man
Gus's Chalet(review)
minnow
.410 bore(thing)
shaogo
Phonautogram(thing)
E2 is a by-product of the existence of The Everything Development Company