[PLUG] Re: new Linux user in need of assistance

[Keith Lofstrom]

richard cowger <t_rex at verizon.net> writes:
> 
> My name is Rich Cowger, I am a new user in need os help.  
> 
> I used Windows 98 for  several years and two weeks ago my computer crashed and 
> I need to upgrade.  I had already decided I wasn't going back to Microsoft, 
> so here I am.  I have a new AMD 2.88 machine w/SUSE 9.2 and a lot of 
> questions.  

Welcome to Linux!

> Is there anyone in your  club that has the time to work with me?

You are in for some work - most of it pleasant.  If you don't want
to do any work, there are people you can pay to do it for you:

http://www.possepdx.org

Windows is a Yugo.  Linux is an F-117.  The tape player may not
work, but it will get you around the world.  For now, it needs more
skill to operate, but it outruns bullets.  Expect a different set
of capabilities, and a lot more firepower.  

Windows is "easy to use", like a cardboard suitcase is easy to open.
Linux is a 20 ton Chubb safe.  More secure - if you know how to lock
the door.  We take security VERY seriously, and usability (for us,
and for vandals) suffers.  Life is about tradeoffs.

Windows comes from a box, Linux comes from a community.  Like all
communities, personalities range all over the map, from saints to
assholes - you will encounter both.  For your sanity and ours,
ignore the latter.  Questions about behavior, politics, flames, etc.
belong on the plug-talk list. 

How to get your questions answered?  Be sure to read:

http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

The Linux clinic has been mentioned.  Google is your friend - somebody
else has solved whatever problem you have, and posted the answer somewhere
on the web ( http://www.google.com/linux ).  There are some great books.
For example, the "Linux Cookbook" by Oregon author Carla Schroder.  Buy
it.  Read it.  Read man pages.  Read FAQs.  Read Read Read.

There are a lot more books focused on Fedora/Redhat than on SUSE, but
the Fedora community is newbie unfriendly.  SUSE/Novell provides better
vendor service, IMHO.  Linspire is a joke - like a 20 ton safe with a
cardboard door.  In time, as the need for books and handholding
diminishes, a lot of Linuxers migrate to Debian or Slackware or Ubuntu
or about 200 other distros ( http://www.distrowatch.org ).  The extreme
geeks seem attracted to Gentoo and other "build from a kit" distros,
and then go completely mad, fork, and release their own distros.  All
distros are siblings, though, and interchange pieces easily.  Underneath
all the social maladjustment, we love each other.

Remember, on this list we are NOT here to help strangers, but we are here
to share with our friends.  You are invited to be a friend.

Again, welcome!  We all started where you are at, and soon you will be
answering questions along with us.

Keith

-- 
Keith Lofstrom          keithl at keithl.com         Voice (503)-520-1993
KLIC --- Keith Lofstrom Integrated Circuits --- "Your Ideas in Silicon"
Design Contracting in Bipolar and CMOS - Analog, Digital, and Scan ICs