Mailinglist Archive: opensuse (4288 mails)

[- <hbwebb@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Well Said Kevin!
	Max Webb





On Saturday 18 May 2002 11:49 pm, Kevin L Hochhalter wrote:
> Some thoughts for new users:
>
> We all know that Linux is an incredibly powerful operating system.  We know
> that it is secure, stable, fast, and highly configurable.  There is an
> incredible amount of software for it.  We know that it runs on everything
> from handheld computers to high capacity servers.  Some of the most amazing
> advances in serious number crunching are being done on clusters of Linux
> computers.
>
> But Linux is not simple.
>
> Oh, it can be simple to use, especially with the new YaST2 install in SuSE
> 8.0.  Just stick to the defaults, and to using either KDE or GNOME, and you
> should find things to be quite smooth sailing.  When you get comfortable
> doing this, disable the graphical login.  Try using startx.  Have a go at
> having two X servers running at the same time.  Play around with it, and
> don't be afraid to have everything burst into flames on you; when I started
> using Linux a year and a half ago, I crashed and burned a lot!  The only
> problems I have these days, though, are with old hardware.
>
> But, once you have ventured past just using KDE or GNOME, be patient. 
> Linux is complex, it has a lot of quirks, and it is often not very
> forgiving.  You will need to learn a lot, and if you want to make some
> serious use of Linux, you will need to read, read, read!  Ask questions,
> and be patient in waiting for an answer.  Most of the time, the answer is
> already installed on your computer, either in the form of a how-to, a man
> page, or a web browser.  Use these tools in your search for the answer to
> your question.
>
> Learn about using shell scripts.  Even if you never write one yourself,
> understanding shell scripts is important.  Sometimes you need to get in
> there and change something so that it will work on your system.  Type "man
> bash" and read it! This might be a little intimidating, but you can learn
> to do it. And after you have, there is nothing that will stop you.  Want to
> backup all of your personal config files on a regular basis?  A simple
> shell script, combined with cron, will do the job for you.  Need to
> download a couple of hundred pictures from your digital camera, but only
> have a serial port?  A shell script is your answer.  Want to search the web
> for information about Irish architecture since the time of the Roman
> Empire, but don't want to sit at your computer for five hours?  A shell
> script that sets up a Google search, and then uses wget to download all of
> the results into a directory in $HOME, is the way to go.
>
> The command line is not something that should scare you away from Linux. 
> It is just a user interface that has been stripped to the essentials.  You
> might be  a little timid at first, since if you are new to Linux, you are
> most likely coming from an operating system that only runs in "point and
> click" mode.  Command line syntax is pretty standardized between different
> applications, and does not really take very long to learn.  And after you
> have the command line under your belt, you'll realize that a lot of things
> are done faster this way than with some pretty gui.  Try playing around
> with vi, which is probably the most powerful text editor in the world,
> although emacs fans might disagree with me about that. You will be amazed
> at what you can do with vi, and how quickly you can do it, when you don't
> have to keep reaching for your mouse.  Once again, just have patience.
>
> When you decide to install Linux, your initial learning curve is going to
> be steep.  You aren't going to master this in two hours.  In two hours,
> though, you can have the os installed, have KDE running, and be online. 
> You aren't going to be sharing files with computers running different
> operating systems, nor will you have a mail server up and running.  You
> have to walk before you can run.
>
> The most important thing, though, is not to give up!  Linux contains some
> amazingly advanced technology.  In fact, it is probably the most advanced
> computer sofware technology that you can actually walk into a store and
> purchase, or download from an ftp server.  And once you are comfortable
> using Linux, you will never want to go back to that old operating system
> that you were using before you gave this one a try.
>
> Be patient, be willing to learn, read a lot, and make plenty of mistakes. 
> Do these things, and you will realize that Linux is the pearl.  All you
> need to do is learn to open the oyster.
>
> Kevin