[PLUG] HELP! Disk is screwed up!

[Bill Thoen]

John Jordan wrote:

>First, my Linux distrbution did not come with any manuals. And yes, I have been 
>to Powell's and have several books on my shelf. The problem, which you Linux 
>gurus fail to grasp, is that I can't UNDERSTAND the books. I don't have the 
>vocabulary. 
>  
>
I'm in the same boat as you regarding Linux system admistration and 
ability/time to learn to do everything myself (and then remember it 
later!)  The solution I found was to simply hire a guru for the stuff I 
couldn't deal with, get it done right, and then concern myself with 
learning to use the applications I was interested in. At least this way 
I have time to learn the things I want to learn without having to repel 
boarders and keep the ship from sinking. I don't think you're going to 
score points asking for help on things that you can't resolve due to 
lack of inexperience, ability, interest or time, and then complain about 
the help offered. If you depend on your Linux system for business or 
some other mission-critical purpose, then get an expert, and later when 
you're not desparately bailing, trying to keep your system afloat, 
you'll have some peace and time to learn the things you need or want to 
learn.

Or, if you're like me, decide that you will probably never know enough 
about servers and security, and just pay someone to do it for you, 
freeing you up to fool around with the applications and less 
system-critical stuff. I've been *a lot* happier with my Linux system 
and office network ever since I realized that. And it cost me a lot less 
than it did in my (otherwise billable) time to repair my system every 
time some daemon crapped on the floor or some script-kiddie exploited 
something stupid I did.

- Bill Thoen