Thanks for the replies. Here are some of the resources so far suggested : linux.nf/stepbystep/html . This offers a set of NHF - or 'Newbeized Help Files, put together by people who are themselves newbies, and have found out how to do things the hard way. There is also the first in what promises to be a series of articles by Andy Donohoe, entitled 'The Learning Curve : A Beginner's Guide to Linux Proficiency. This looks as if it could turn out to be very useful. There's another page for beginners at http://linuxstart.com/category.php?file=/newbies/ , where you can find links to a set of tutorials such as 'The Beginner's Guide to Unix' or uses of the Gimp. At first glance, this seems a pretty rich resource. Both sites give you links to LUGs - unfortunately for my own case, I discover I have to go live in Toulouse. A couple of books have been recommended, and there is a section at Amazon.com.uk for Linux newcomers with a few more. I'm not sure how far any of these can be of much help to the person who uses Windows without bothering too much about what goes on underneath. This list's Bruce Marshall sent me to a FAQ he's working on for absolute beginners which looks as if it will help the newcomer through those first days after installation : most debutant texts seem to spend a long time on installation and I'm not sure that it's the way to go (which is why I'll probably not be purchasing the Idiot's guide or 'Linux for Very Stupid People') - the real difficulties in getting things to work properly demand some knowledge of the system itself - the easy stuff can now be left to YaST or whatever. Bruce leaves that to one side and takes you on from the first screen you see once installation's over. Thanks for the help Best wishes Timothy Mason <tmason@club-internet.fr> http://perso.club-internet.fr/tmason/