Mailinglist Archive: opensuse (4288 mails)

[Jim Conner <jconner@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Good e-mail.  Granted, SuSE 8.0 has brought this list some new users and with 
the new users has brought some frustrations that new users have with learning 
something new.  Good to let them know that it can be done, but it takes time. 
 It's not something that they will master everything in a few hours or less.  
I'm gonna forward this e-mail to a friend of mine that is thinking of 
learning linux.

Jim

On Sunday, May 19, 2002 1:49, 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

-- 
 
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