For the newbies (book question)

[David Roberts]

Derek Martin wrote:
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> On Tue, Mar 04, 2003 at 05:47:31PM -0500, Mark Komarinski wrote:
> 
>>Hypothetical situation (of course) for you who are new to Linux.
>>
>>Which is more appealing:
>>
>>1) A Linux book that covers EVERYTHING about your distribution of choice.
>>It would be about 1000-1500 pages and cost $60.
> 
> 
> Hmmm...  I think such a book would be incomplete, even if it had
> 15,000 pages.
> 
> 
>>2) Two Linux books.  One that covers the basics, mostly geared towards
>>new home users - the other covers more advanced topics geared towards
>>servers in the home/office.  Fewer pages (400ish per book) and each book
>>would be on the order of $30-$40.
>>
>>I know what I would pick, but I'm not a new user.
> 
> 
> I also am not a new Linux user, but I would prefer the first.  The
> trouble for new users is identifying which of the 3000 books on Linux
> actually does have "everything" and is worth the $60.  Since they
> /are/ new, this is basically an impossible task.  This has frustrated
> me in the past with other kinds of books, like those about learning
> Java or (dare I say it) VC++.  There are about 300 of them, and for
> someone totally unfamiliar with the topic (which isn't me, per sé), no
> easy way to identify which is the best, or even if a particular one is
> any good.
> 
> Another point I'll make is that it seems to me that the typical new
> home user doesn't really want either of these...  What they want is a
> pamphlet that tells them everything they need to know in order to
> browse, use e-mail, write documents and install new software; and all
> in 5 pages or less.

This sounds somewhat like what I've seen in some of my
old programming texts (I'm not going tell from how far
back I can remember this).  You had the fully detailed
text and included was a "Quick Reference" pamphlet with
the basics for quick reminders...

dlr

> 
> - -- 
> Derek D. Martin
> http://www.pizzashack.org/
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