[plug] Noddy learns Linux ... or a beginner's guide

[Daniel Pittman]

Bret Busby <bret at busby.net> writes:
> On Sat, 28 Aug 2010, Richard Meyer wrote:
>> From: Richard Meyer <meyerri at westnet.com.au>

[...]

>> An old acquaintance has contacted me, desperate to reskill herself - she
>> wants to learn Linux/Unix, but has no idea where to start.

[...]

>>> Remember that Unix/Linux is a full OS and trying to learn anything
>>> without the basics is difficult - I started playing in 1995 - never
>>> really took it seriously, but liked it and played .....

I think this is a very good starting point.  My preference for an approach is
for someone to make a decisive cut: commit to spending two months using Linux
and *only* Linux as their OS.

If you spend most of your time in Windows or MacOS and only play with it then
you are never going to get comfortable, and after two months you will still
find it challenging.  Commit, and after two months I bet it is easy to use.

[...]

>> (I suppose the advice to buy the mag may be met by "Download it, yourself",
>> but she's not exactly PC literate, and downloading and burning an ISO may
>> be more of a PITA than anybody may want).

Sadly, if that is true I suspect your friend really needs someone to be the
local expert, because Linux just isn't all that friendly yet.  Improving, not
nearly as bad as it was, sure — but complex, because so many people still
assume you are either a Windows user, or a computer expert.

(In other words: less and less of this is the "fault" of Linux, but it is
 still somewhat true.)


One example: AMD64 flash support.  Whee!


> 1. With everything that I have seen of Ubuntu 10.04.1, I recommend using
>    Ubuntu 8.04LTS.

FWIW, Bret, I think it is very important (especially with reference to new
users) to define *why* you think this is so.  From my position 10.04 looks to
have about the same level of pain as any other Ubuntu release, and with the .1
patch release should be reasonably useful for anyone.

Obviously you have seen different things, so telling us what they are helps us
assess how that matches up with what we do.  (eg: is it just that I have only
seen it run on well supported hardware, and you have seen it run on other
things, which could well be the case.)


Anyway, as a general rule I think advising older software to someone is a
mistake: one of the biggest adjustments in the Windows to Ubuntu shift is the
idea that by and large you should use the distribution software.

That also means that they will want a fairly fresh release so they get modern
versions of Firefox and so forth (even though there is no practical difference
for most people in using them) to work with.

        Daniel
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