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

[Gavin Chester]

On Sat, 2010-08-28 at 13:04 +0800, Richard Meyer wrote:
> Hi people,
> 
> An old acquaintance has contacted me, desperate to reskill herself - she
> wants to learn Linux/Unix, but has no idea where to start.

The theme of my response is to forget the underlying OS in the beginning
and focus on apps. I don't think most "everyday" users even really think
about what the OS does as long as their favourite apps work.     

I remember my own "transition" was marked by an off/on relationship,
switching back and forth between MS and linux according to how complex
were the issues confronting my use of Linux and my determination to
return to solving them. This was especially so a decade or more ago when
the linux desktop was less "mature" and the kernel used ext2fs. That
filesystem _used_ to scare me because if the PC crashed it then wouldn't
boot properly afterward (I soon learnt to deal with that, but is scary
for newbies). Also, many times I seemed to kill X so that I had no gui
the next time I booted, and so on and so on. 

Anyway, those days and my limitless ignorance are long gone. Long story
made short, linux is far, far more user-friendly, whatever mainstream
distro you choose these days. By contrast to other suggestions, I would
suggest a dual boot setup so that she can return to the "familiarity" of
windows when feeling overwhelmed by linux's "newness". Yes, it may delay
the transition, but if she's determined she'll forsake windows more and
more. 

On top of that, have her install cross-platform apps, such as OOffice,
gimp, etc, etc for her everyday computing. Becoming familiar with them
in windows will make linux familiar territory when she uses the same app
in linux. In short, she doesn't need to know linux to use it once she
has her favourite apps working. Give her a basic install where
everything works "windows-like" then once she wants to know more she can
seek advice on installing new apps and upgrading her system.

Gavin.