Why this site exists
You’ve got a command that *should* work—it’s in the manual, it’s been copy-pasted from a forum, it even looks right—but your terminal just stares back with a blank line or an error you’ve never heard of. The documentation is either too vague or assumes you already know the answer.
You’re not sure if the problem is the command, the system, or something you’re missing entirely.
This site cuts through the guesswork. Every guide here starts with a real issue—something that broke a machine, locked a user out, or turned a simple task into a headache. The fixes are tested in actual environments, not just theory. No fluff, no assumptions.
Just the steps that work, the pitfalls to watch for, and the exact wording that makes a difference.
Who writes this site
Bruno Radcliffe runs the site as its only author.
Do you test everything on real hardware?
Yes. Every guide uses at least two different setups—one older, one newer—so you don’t get ‘works on my machine’ answers. The exceptions are cloud-specific tools, where I document the exact instance type I’m using.
What do you get wrong most often?
Permissions. I’ll write a fix assuming a user has admin rights, then forget to note it. Or I’ll test a script as root and only later realize it fails for normal users. The ‘obvious’ steps are where mistakes hide.
Why no guides on Raspberry Pi?
I’ve tried. The Pi’s quirks—power delivery, SD card corruption, driver incompatibilities—deserve their own site. What I write here focuses on systems where the hardware isn’t actively fighting you.
The first rule of debugging is to write down the exact error message before refreshing the screen. The second is to never trust a forum post that says ‘just run `chmod -R 777 /`.’ I still have a server somewhere with a permissions nightmare from ignoring that.
How a guide is built
A guide starts with a failure. Not a hypothetical—something that actually stopped work, whether it’s a frozen update, a missing dependency, or a service that refuses to start. The first draft is a transcript of the terminal session: every command, every typo, every ‘wait, why did that happen?’
The breakdown
Step one is isolating the problem. Is it the command? The user’s permissions? A background service hogging resources? I run the same steps on a clean VM, then on my own machine, then on a friend’s. If the error doesn’t repeat, it’s not a guide—it’s a one-off.
If it does, I note the exact conditions: OS version, package manager, whether the system was recently updated.
The fix
The solution isn’t just the working command. It’s the *why*: why the original failed, what the error codes actually mean, and how to spot the same issue next time.
I include the slow way (manual steps) and the fast way (scripts), but always warn if the fast way is a sledgehammer. And if the fix is ‘reinstall everything,’ I’ll say so—but I’ll also tell you how to back up what you’re about to lose.
What we will not do
This site exists to unbreak things, not to sell you new ones. No affiliate links, no ‘premium’ tools, no ‘sponsored’ fixes. If a hardware upgrade is the only answer, I’ll say so—but I’ll also show you how to stretch your current setup further first.
Things you will never find here
- ‘Buy this SSD and your problems will vanish’ recommendations
- Guides that assume you’re comfortable compiling kernel modules from source
- Step-by-step walkthroughs for setting up a home lab with 20 VMs
- Advice to ‘just reboot’ when the issue is deeper than that
Where to start
If you’re stuck on a specific error, search for it. If you’re new to the command line, start with the ‘Terminal Basics’ section. If you’re troubleshooting a service, look under ‘System Services.’ Can’t find what you need? The ‘Common Pitfalls’ page lists the most frequent mistakes—and how to avoid them.
Say hello
I like hearing about the weirdest errors you’ve fixed, the tools that saved your day, or the hardware that still refuses to cooperate. If you’ve spotted a mistake or have a topic to suggest, the contact page is the place to say so.
The guides are grouped by category: App, Coding, Hardware, Operating System, Outlook and PowerPoint.