Requested: Tips for Getting Started With Linux

[John Heim]

Probably the first thing you should know is that the question of the 
advantages and disadvantages of each distro has caused many a religeous 
war. I think the best advice I've seen is start with the distro that 
someone you know is using so you can get personal help.

Something that I've said that has caused controversy before (but I still 
believe) is that you should prepare yourself for a steep learning curve. A 
lot of your skills as a Windows system administrator won't necessarily 
translate into linux. With linux, you have to have a real do-it-yourself 
attitude. You have to be willing to take the time to read the documentation.

With Windows, something either works or it doesn't. The key is knowing what 
works. With linux, you can almost always get something to work if you try 
hard enough and therefore analytical skills are more important.

I've seen so many people decide to give linux a try and quit after a few 
days concluding that linux is complicated mess. Well, they spent years 
acquiring their knowledge of Windows so now it seems easy. But I remember 
switching from unix to Windows and being totally confused.  I remember 
telling someone I thought it was insane that you essentially had to 
memorize where the to go to do each system configuration task. And that's 
still a problem because different versions of Windows have settings in 
different places.

Anyway, my point is that you should anticipate that this will take some 
time and not expect to be a guru overnight.

At 09:00 PM 6/7/2004, Jeremiah Z. Rogers wrote:
>Good day, everyone. I'm a very capable Windows and DOS user and
>troubleshooter, who is looking for a new challenge. I'm thinking of
>installing Linux, and as I write this email, am downloading Fedora Core II.
>I've never installed, or even used, Linux at all. I have a number of
>questions with which anyone may be able to help, so here goes.
>
>1. What're some steps which you found helpful as you went from another OS to
>Linux?
>2. What are the most popular screen-reading packages for Linux, specifically
>Fedora II?
>3. Are there any significant positives to running another version of Linux
>than Core II, or are there any significant disadvantages to running Core II?
>4. What information do I need to firmly grasp in order to install the OS to
>begin experimenting with it?
>5. What are any other tips or answers you might have which would be helpful?
>
>Many thanks in advance for any responses which you provide.
>Jeremiah Z. Rogers, jzr at intrex.net
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>Blinux-list mailing list
>Blinux-list at redhat.com
>https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/blinux-list

--
John G. Heim
University of Wisconsin - Division of Information Technology (DoIT)
1210 West Dayton St, #4297, Phone: 2-9887

To boldly code what no one has coded before.