Eric & Anna wrote:
> Any advice on reading materials for a Linux newbie? A friend helped
> me install Redhat 5.2, Gnome, and Enlightenment on my system a couple
> of days ago. I'm experienced with Windoze and Mac, but I have
> absolutey no Unix or Linux experience. I'm finding it a little
> baffling (and sometimes frustrating) at this early stage. Any advice
> or recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!
>
> Eric Calkins
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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What Works(-ed, is working) For Me (But Isn't Necessarily Recommended)
* trial and error
* do the install yourself
* ask questions of the mailing lists, get answers way above your head and
incomprehensible
* isolate a problem and read as many books as possible on it, scour the net for
related material (not always the Linux Documentation Project. Some answers are
just out there on the Net on a page in the middle of no where)
* try everything several times (just for practice) then...
* be prepared to re-install because sometimes trying everything f**ks
everything up
* never give up
* when your spirits get down, convince somebody who isn't interested that the
company from Redmond is evil. Articulate the many reasons why based on the
rhetoric you have picked up along the way. This is a useful exercise for when
you...
* get together with your friends and bash the company from Redmond ruthlessly
* learn to use the force and the Jedi mind trick
That is the only way I have gotten anything done with Linux. It is the system
I have worked out. Know that nothing is perfect, not Linux by far. Always
remember that you are smarter than the machine. You are smarter than the
machine. You are smarter than the machine. And before resorting to violence
upon your computer, remember that it has no free will. Violence against
computers is intolerable. At a fundamental level, they know not what they do.
With regards to the language that Linux newsgroups speak in... I still don't
understand it after a year and a half. But I am only beginning to study
computer languages. Just a cursory look at a PERL book will probably shed a
little light on the road ahead. Should you choose to take it, you'll need to
figure out some motivation to read the books. Whatever that is, remember that
you are smarter than the books.
Be persistent, never give up, and may the Force be with you.
--
"Grasshopper, What new styles have you learned today?"
Austin G. Swinney
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/~aswinney/
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