[buug] Excellent Newbie Linux Site

[Zeke Krahlin]

Rick Moen said:

>Quoting ezekielk at iname.com (ezekielk at iname.com):

>> I have found this site that is focused on new 
>> Linux users:
>> 
>>      http://www.control-escape.com/

>Hmm.  It suffers from Microsoft tunnel vision.  

Since the author is writing specifically for Windoze users who
want to convert to Linux, I'd expect him to have such "tunnel
vision". Though I know where you're coming from, I believe this
author does a great job in providing the "missing link" for a
smoother transition from Windoze to Linux. When I say this site
is excellent for "Linux newbies"...I mean "newbies" as longterm
Windoze users...and I *don't mean newbies in any other way (such
as non-Windoze users taking their first Unix class). So, for
non-Windoze newbies, I don't recommend this site.

>You'll learn a lot more, more-useful things, and more quickly, from
>reading Linux Gazette (http://www.linuxgazette.com/) the HOWTOs
>at the Linux Documentation Project (http://www.linuxdoc.org/), and
>good tutorial books like Matt Welsh's _Running Linux_.

So far, I don't find that to be the case. As one who truly does
suffer from "Windoze tunnel vision", I have to say that the raw
HOWTOs and L. Gazette toss out masses of Linux data without any
real structure...nor do they (along with Welsh) cater to the
ex-Windoze crowd. You would have to spend a lot of time, just
tunneling through such quantities of data (L. Gazette archives
and HOWTOs), in order to find that one small bit information
needed to perform that next tiny step re. installing and
fine-tuning Linux. For each little necessary bit, you need to
repeat this time-wasting search. Not that _Running Linux_ is not
a valuable resource, but that it does not really provide this
missing Windoze-to-Linux link, either.

This "Control-Escape" site provides most answers to ease Windoze
users into Linux...better than any other resource I have so far
come across. And he does include all relevant HOWTO's...selecting
only the ones most urgently needed to get former Windoze users up
and running. It is this arrangement of important HOWTO's first,
that is missing from most other introductory Linux resources. I
have often searched through the HOWTO directory, with  no real
success in resolving many questions. For example: how to mount a
Macintosh disk. While the info is somewhere there, it was
impossible to find, even with a search routine. Linux remains
notoriously bad when it comes to organized and well-written HOWTO
documentation...at least, when it comes to fitting the needs of
newbies. And the several excellent books I pore over each day,
often do not have anywhere in their index, reference to the
topics I am asking about...and often it's nowhere in the book,
anyway.

I find Control-Escape to be one of *the answers for Windoze
converts to Linux. And a great introduction to Linux, that will
make resources like _Running Linux_ and the Linux Gazette, that
much more palatable and useable by such newbies.

I certainly do not question the quality of your recommendations,
Rick...Linux Gazette is now on our resources page. But when I
come across something that really "hits the spot" for
tunnel-vision newbies like me, I am ecstatic over such a
resource, which I *know will help other newbies, considering how
useful it's been for my own needs.

FYI: I am very happy to be running Linux as my default OS
now...using it 90% of the time. Control-Escape has been a major
aid to me, in this changeover...along with the handy security
tips provided by one of the members of my FreeNetCubs BBS. I'm
running Mandrake 6.1, waiting for the delivery of version 7.0.
Netscape 4.6 stinks on ice: always crashing the entire system
just like in Windoze...forcing a hard reboot, which is not so
nice for Linux. (I guess I could create two shells, so when
Netscape crashes I won't have to reboot...but this method is a
bit beyond my scope at this time.) Quite a few web sites require
certain abilities lacking in the KDE browser, and the other
altenative browsers...otherwise, I'd dump Netscape completely. In
fact, I had to accept defeat this time around, and exit Linux and
go back to Windoze, in order to use my browser, and compose this
message. (I'm using Netscape's own e-mail service.)

Learning "chmod" commands, which for some reason seems to work
arbitrarily. IOW: as root, I can run this command:

	chmod 777 *

in a directory, and get absolutely *no changes in permissions
(which did not allow writing or executing for all others, and no
execution for groups). Or "chmod 555 *", or whatever. Then, I can
try it again and again...and it will sometimes take. I know I
must be doing something wrong here...as it makes no sense that
Linux could arbitrarily decide that a chmod will work one moment,
and not another (with not a single error statement in any of the
chmod attempts)...even though I'm "root" or "superuser" all the
time, in the same shell session. Oh well: typical frustrations to
be expected as a newbie.


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