I've got the Exam Prep book for the LIP exam. That info could be good to use for topics.
John, your proposed newbie questions aren't so trivial. I've had my hands in XF86Config file a number of times trying to fix screen resolution. It's not just newbies who get stuck on that. It use to be a bear (or a very angry penguin). It hasn't been necessary on the later Redhat distros and later hardware. But some discussion of the XF86Config file would probably be a good thing. Printers weren't always trivial either. That's where you have to excavate the /etc/printcap file (don't fat-finger that one). 'printtool' usually works but needs Xwindows. Another good topic for discussion. Password recovery is the only easy thing you mentioned. (what's that say for security?) :) We got lots of topics for February (and March and April). Who wants to speak! Jerry said he can keep feeding us network knowledge a bit at each meeting. He can take a time-slice prior to a major presentation, if we have a talk scheduled. Or he can fill the time and take us further into the mysteries of the unseen packet world. I'd like to learn more from him and give him a go ahead on that one. Do we have anyone who wants to do a presentation or comments on what topics to delve into for a group discussion? Wayne > I agree with Wayne that we should encourage newbies to ask questions. > > The book suggestion, however, has some merits. One approach could be to > have a Linux basics section for, say, 15 minutes where some basic topic is > covered. Then have the main presentation. > > What book? I'll check the bookstores soon and see what has a good format. > One of the Linux magazines has a nice newbies column that might work > better. After all, we don't need to do the newbie/review stuff in any > sequence. > > Some newbie items could be: > > "How do reset my video screen?" (As I am setting up a RH 7.2 system on a > really old PC here at work, I ran in the challenge of the video settings > for resolution. By the RH installer, only standard VGA would work but that > created a problem with utilities such as the Red Hat Network Update Agent. > It's screens don't fit. Xconfigurator took care of the problem by allowing > me to set for Super VGA resolution. A newbie might be really stuck here > because the Gnome or KDE menus don't have any easily visible option for > doing such changes to X-Windows. > > "How do I set up a printer?" > > "How do I get a Palm Pilot link going?" > > "I couldn't get a program for my Linux. They had only the source code. > What do I do?" > > "I forgot my password. Do I have to reinstall my Linux and software?" (One > tech support horror story for a corporation had a tech support person wipe > out the OS and reinstall the software because the password was > forgotten.<g>) > > Once we get the Web site going with some more interactive stuff, we could > have a Question & Answer section online. Of course, it would have a > disclaimer that we are not obligated to give answers for every question, > especially for sight unseen system. But this may provide hints for topics > to cover at the meetings as well as drawn in new members. > > By the way, I'll be posting the January meeting minutes tonight. > > J.D. Abolins > Meyda Online -- Infosec & Privacy Studies > New Website: http://www.MeydaOnline.com
