[plug] Newbie Guide - The beginning

[Kev]

Thanx for your response Mark

Bearing in mind that this thread is about doing something to encourage 
newbies; to encourage Windoze and other users into giving Linux a fair 
try ...

Mark J Gaynor wrote:

> Firstly, most of the PLUG workshop people are Debian in nature. That is
> just how things developed. The other distros have emerged since the
> original major distros as derived works of the underlying operating system
> of Linux.

Of all the more common distros, Debian is certainly not going to win 
over any average Windoze users.  For a start, too hard to install.

> 
> Second, PLUG is not large enough or diverse enough yet to have the
> knowledge base to be able to cater for all distos at the one time. If you
> can grasp that concept, you are one step closer to a solution. The group
> tries to accommodate everyone, that may be the wrong thing to do. In
> time the choices may be different, but for now this is PLUG.

Good point - accepted!

> 
> If you look at the majority of people at the last PLUG meetings (AKA the
> AGM) you may notice that many of the movers and shakers are either Uni
> Students,  not long out of Uni or are closely involved with the computer
> industry and are what I would describe as 'power" users/programmers.
> That is what shapes their thinking and if you are not in those circles you
> feel understandably intimidated or an outsider. I cannot offer a solution
> for this.

Exactly!!  PLUG is a MOST unwelcoming group for newbies.  A newbie is 
made to feel totally inferior and stupid in a PLUG environment.  You can 
argue against that all you like - you'll be wrong every time!  This 
thread I thought was about trying to address precisely this problem.

It's PLUGgers' attitudes which must change first.  "We're not a Debian 
shop, we're here to help you convert over from Wintendo to Linux the 
most painless way possible".  Unfortunately it'll all end there, coz the 
newbie's needs will go out the door while all the shining stars have 
their own little argument about which distro is best.  Meanwhile the 
newbie leaves, unnoticed, disallusioned, dissappointed and convinced 
more than ever that Linux is for wankers.  In my 12 mths so far I've 
seen a dozen or more come and go for exactly that reason.

Go back and have a look at this thread "[plug] confused about linux". 
This woman has Windows and is begging someone to help get off it and 
onto Linux.  3rd reply starts like this, and I quote, "After you get the 
SHIFT key fixed on your keyboard you can ... ".  If that's one of the 
afforementioned Debian users, why would any outsider want to join?  Go 
back through the whole thread and see if you think she left satisfied or 
dissallusioned.  I'd almost guarrantee that she gave up, muttering 
"wankers" under her breath.  PLUGgers' attitudes must change if PLUG is 
to become a vehicle through which Windoze users are to be converted.

Whether you all like it or not, the *nix world is just that - a world on 
its own.  Anyone brought up on DOS based systems (or CP/M) will struggle 
with *nix concepts.  It'd be different if you were brought up on *nix, 
but trying to unlearn all that old stuff and start again is very hard, 
especially for an ol' fart like me.

> problem with youthful exuberance is just that, youthful. There is a
> generation

... and the problem with arrogant exclusivists is just that, arrogant 
exclusiveness!

> gap of varying degrees, not only in age but knowledge, so finding common
> ground is going to be difficult. The informal nature of the Monday evening
> workshops makes things more so. It is daunting to go to a meeting where
> you are unknown and need assistance with your problem, in an atmosphere
> of higher learning. Everything is getting stacked against you form the
> start if your much older than late teens. The solution, like the problem, is going
> to be just as complex.

You're correct all the way here.  But this is about changing all that 
isn't it?  PLUGgers' attitudes must change.


> Mark
> (These comments are mine and not necessarily that of the PLUG Committee)

And my comments are mine, and strongly heartfelt!

Btw, I have already offered my help in rectifying this.

Cheers
Kev