Comment by d--b
6 years ago
The problem here is that the author assumes that the person he is addressing is a total moron for not using sshd, so he is afraid that his question is going to be badly taken.
Most people when asked “why didn’t you just xxx” would answer in 3 ways:
1. Oh shit, you’re right, I’m such an idiot... oh well...
2. Because yyy
3. I don’t know xxx, can you show me?
The issue is that people feel the intention behind your question because of context (mostly what your relationship to that person is)
I think it just depends on the person asking. I have known people who could call you an idiot to your face and still come off as the nicest human in the world, and people who could ask you to pass the salt and you would think that they didn't know if you were capable of it. Some people just have a hard time not coming off as condescending, but that says nothing of their intentions.
But what if the person actually is a moron or -- maybe more likely -- just really insecure. Just because a person is a moron doesn't make it right to treat them badly.
But yes, I really agree with your comment: This is not usually an issue if you have a well developed relationship to that person. But if the context is still undecided, that's when the phrasing can really decide which way your relationship is going.
I think the article directly addressed that "most people" are reasonable, but a minority are not and will take the question as an insult. It's trying to work out a way of phrasing the question so it can't be taken as an insult, even by an unreasonable person.