Where do you go for help and news?

[Jim Kuzdrall]

On Tuesday 30 January 2007 09:58 pm, Paul Lussier wrote:
> "So, what does it take to get to this level of
> understanding Linux?".  Needless to say, I was kind of caught off
> guard.  What do I tell him? "Ditch Windows, increase your pain
> threshold to nearly intolerable, and don't use anything but a
> UNIX-based OS for 15+ years?

    I made 2 basic mistakes when I started in Linux, as Paul Lussier 
knows well.

    1) I tried to make Linux look like Windows to ease the learning 
curve.  As has been mentioned, it is best to forget Windows and accept 
Linux as a completely new environment.  Although a novice will be 
pleased to find out that isn't completely true, it is the best 
attitude.

    2) I hoped to get an expert to do the nitty-gritty so I wouldn't 
have to learn it.  That doesn't work.  One of the reasons I switched to 
Linux was to gain control of my computer - to make it do what I wanted 
it to do rather than being stuck with the vision of a large 
corporation.  The only way to benefit from that aspect of Linux is to 
dig in and learn the details.  If you just want a pre-formatted text 
processing appliance, Windows is perfect.  (Almost.)

    I learn best from books.  Being from a generation when trying the 
wrong thing resulted in large sparks and smoke, I am a much more 
cautious experimenter than I should be.

    Even for a person with lots of computer experience, I recommend 
starting with a well written overview.  "Linux Installation, 
Configuration, and Use, 2d Ed." by Michael Kofler, Addison-Wesley 2000, 
evolved as the reference I turned to most often in the beginning.  It 
is out of print (ISBN 0-201-59628-8), but is available used.

    The O'Reilly "Running Linux" is another overview book.  Although it 
covers much of the same material as Kofler, it didn't click with me as 
well.

    The books that come with the distribution (Red Hat, SuSE) help with 
the nuances of their approach.  The Help documentation available on 
screen has improved dramatically.

    For your friend who wants to match the expertise of a system 
administrator, I would suggest setting ones sights a little lower.  The 
investment in time may only be justified if you intend to follow it as 
a profession.

Jim Kuzdrall