Well said that man. At the same time you can sometimes feel intimidated by answering a question in the wrong way and coming across 'have you used a computer before'...mails can be fowl things for 'tone and seniment' in communication : / ... and then there are lame people like me who have never used a mail based support group as well (sorry) - still getting used to it ....sorry for confusing people by replying to individuals ! ...here is to hoping this gets back out to all?! -----Original Message----- From: Roger Whittaker [mailto:roger@suse-linux.co.uk] Sent: Friday, March 17, 2000 9:59 AM To: Edgehill E-Mail Service Cc: SuSe-Linux-UK-Schools Subject: Re: [suse-linux-uk-schools] A heartfelt request. I fully agree with this. I think some people may already be feeling a bit intimidated because they see discussion of rather difficult issues going on above their heads when they are still trying to get their heads around the basics. If people are not asking because they think their questions are too dumb, they are missing out. We all remember what it was like the first time we logged in and didn't know what we were doing. Linux Gazette used to have a regular feature called `Clueless at the prompt' which nicely summed up how I felt at first. And that is not such a long time ago. The hill is steep in places, but the view from the top (or even half way up) is breathtaking. Keep those questions coming. I promise to answer whatever I can, to pass on what I don't know to others who do, and I'll never just tell you to RTFM. All the best Roger On Wed, 8 Mar 2000, Edgehill E-Mail Service wrote:
Hi,
I would like to make an appeal on behalf of all of the Linux Newbies who are subscribed to the mailbase (myself included).
If a question has been raised - please do not assume that Granny already sucks eggs. Perhaps two versions of the answer would be valid - the brief and technical version for the cognoscenti, and the long simplistic version for the newbies.
I have been in the computer industry for over 20 years, and I have been using Linux for under 20 weeks. I need the simplistic version, and will probably continue to do so for some considerable time yet. To many of us who were raised on "the other" os's (RT8/10/11, CP-M/MP-M, DOS etc.) the un*x/linux family of os's are an alien tongue.
So, please don't be shy - assume that your reply is for some poor newbie who'se stuck up the creek, sans paddle - in a sinking canoe.
And if you _are_ cognoscenti or Linux Gurus, please don't be offended by the simplistic answers - some of us are visitors from another System.
Finally, If you are a Newbie with a good idea or a hot tip, please post it - it may not be new to everyone (or even to anyone else), but the chances are that someone will benefit from it!
Thanks, Paul
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