Re: [OT] Something Newbies Should Know

ray wrote:
On Thu, 24 May 2007 20:48:17 -0600, sk8-365 wrote:

Read this in the Debian General Forum and thought it may be helpful
to newbies and a good reminder to us old dogs what many of us went
thru' at the start of our Linux adventure.

http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?t=15294

Posted: 2007-05-24 15:24Â Â Â Post subject: Something Newbies Should Know

---start---

Something Newbies Should Know

This is just my opinion FWIW, after using Linux for 5 years:

The transition from Windows to Linux is painful, no doubt about it. The
following article, rant, or advice is just an attempt to explain how to
go about it.

Linux, regardless of distro, is hard work, there is no way around it,
you have to bite the bullet. Attempts to circunvent this process will
be met with failure. If you want to use Debian, Slackware, or Gentoo
because you want to impress your pals but you don't want to get your
hands dirty, or if reading is a PITA because you got better things to
do, do not read any further, go back to Vista or buy a Mac at once!

Linux is not for everybody, and there is nothing wrong with that.

Installing, configuring, and administering Linux is like robbing a
bank. Careful planning and studying is a must; it is NOT a bag of
tricks, you cannot improvise and hope it will be ok. Luckily, there are
forums, search engines, mailing list, and IRC channels.

If you attempt to install Linux and something is not working, in most
cases it's your fault. You either did not read the howto explaining how
to install step by step, sometimes it's your hardware, sometimes it's a
bug, but in most cases, its due to the newbie's ignorance and laziness
in not preparing himself for the task.

Fine. Nobody is perfect, nobody was born knowing it all, the newbie
needs help. After all, we all were newbies at one time. But the newbie
has to cooperate by doing his part. He has to read the howtos, follow
the advice given, and try it. If it doesn't work, it's imperative he
comes back and question WHY it doesn't work after explaining what he
DID. If he doesn't explain WHAT he did there is no way to find out,
especially if the error message is not pasted in his question.

This process requires a lot of googling and research.

Nothing is owed to the newbie, if he doesn't do his homework, he
deserves nothing. Attempts to blackmail the forum with statements like:
"if i don't solve this, i'll go back to Windows, or i'll install
another distro" for the most part will be ignored by the majority. The
newbie has to do his homework, or find a distro geared to work "out of
the box", a no-brainer distro a la Windows, with which to cut his teeth
in.

---end---

IMHO - yes, installing and setting up Linux can be daunting - IMH - it's
not really much more difficult (if at all) than installing and setting up
MS, but it is significantly different - and most systems come with MS
already set up - finding a properly installed and set up Linux is more
difficult.

That being said, USING Linux is no more difficult than using MS or MAC -
it's just a bit different - actually, not much different. We've been using
Linux on the public access internet computers at the local library for
over two years now. Since it's inception, users have adjusted easily and
quickly with no help, advise or training.


Just to add 2 cents....I agree Linux is a new challenge and can be a
great learning experience. I am by trade a Novell and MS admin with some
Linux under my belt as well. One thing I would say to the people that
say the MS just works is "Let me give you a naked box, with no driver
discs, no clue exactly what hardware is really in the box and a
WindowsXP setup CD and lets see how far you get along before your are
just as exasperated as you would be with trying to setup up Linux on the
same box". In all reality most Linux distros do a pretty darn good job
of detecting hardware and picking the right drivers for it. Windows XP
in and of itself is pretty stupid about doing the same thing if you
don't have a handful of driver discs sitting on the table when you start
to do the setup.

Jim

--
Linux Website Links http://myweb.cableone.net/okieman7/linux.htm
Registered Linux User# 376156
.

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