I frequently find myself in the need of a new (computer) tool (mail server, radius server, svn server, etc). I then rummage about for documentation, and consistently find how to do almost, not quite, something entirely unlike what I’m trying to do.
That means I then spend a great deal of time going through multiple different sets of instructions, none of which actually answers all of my questions. Indeed many of them include vaguely useful answers to entirely different questions, or answers to some of my questions, that aren’t entirely right (both my questions, AND the answers).
I eventually , with a combination of web sites, forum queries, and probably, just dumb luck, get the darned thing to work exactly how I want. Since I tend to document everything (both as a work requirement, and because my memory sucks), I tend to end up with yet ANOTHER document that almost, but not quite, would answer someone else’s questions. And so the circle continues.
(That’s the real problem with Linux. There’s so many choices that there’s never instructions for the exact thing you want, so if you’re expecting turn-key, you’re a LOOONG way away from there).