At 04:41 AM 4/1/99 -0600, Michael A. Stone wrote:
>> Actually - any suggestions for getting up to speed on UNIX-speak *greatly*
>> appreciated. This from someone who uses her shell account and that's about
>> all.
See if you can get an old PC (386 or better) and install/run
Linux or FreeBSD. Then you can get REAL unix experience and
apply the knowledge. (Not to mention get more comfortable with it).
>the books suggested by other folks are good, but you can't really be a true
>unix geek without a copy of _The Unix Hater's Handbook_. the foreward by
>Dennis Ritchie, which is somthing like two pages of eloquent and eriudite
>prose.. and can be reduced very literally to the words "eat **** and die"..
>shows the kind of humor that's built into the thing at its very core.
Its like a lot of things, at first, many people HATE UNIX with a
passion (just like many hate M$ products with a passion).
>there's a very strong cultural component to unix.. there are a hundred
>(at barest minimum) different text editors out there, but if you don't know
>vi or emacs you'll be branded as a luser. worst of all is the sin of
>dissing vi in favor of pico.. even to an emacs partisan.. and i don't
>even want to think what would happen to a pico fan who dissed emacs.
>lightning bolt, probably.. God is about the only entity in the universe
>that actually knows all the emacs commands, and probably uses vi just to
>be contrary. ;-)
(and VI is on almost - if not all UNIX versions).
>a friend of mine used to love to wind me up by sequentially asking me
>whether unix was an operating system of a programming language. there
>are valid arguments for and against in each direction, and he just liked
>seeing me argue both of them at once. the truth is, it's a floor wax
>*and* a dessert topping.. it's also a culture, and a community, much like
>the 'net.
*ROFL* I love the SNL reference (from back when SNL was REALLY funny).
You can also get that argument talking about Linux (is linux an
OS or is it really just a kernel with a GNU distribution ?)
>the best way to learn about a culture is to visit, and observe the locals
>perform the quaint and curious rituals that make up their day-to-day lives.
>unix is no different. dive in and work out as much as you can on your
>own, disdaining no source of possible information, but also talk to the
>other people who live & work there. ask questions, let everyone know how
>proud you are of *finally* having mastered some basic skill, and generally
>make noise. we've all done the same, and we all know how fragile and
>limited our own current level of knowledge really is. to truly understand
>unix, you have to learn to be a six-month newbie talking to the five- and
>ten-year newbies.
>
>welcome.. share and enjoy.
Good Luck. You will find UNIX confusing at first (and cryptic)
but it will definitly get easier.
Matt Soffen
==============================================
Boss - "My boss says we need some eunuch programmers."
Dilbert - "I think he means UNIX and I already know UNIX."
Boss - "Well, if the company nurse comes by, tell her I said
never mind."
- Dilbert -
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