[PLUG] back to basics (some advice sought)

Michael M. Moore michael at writemoore.net
Sat Feb 28 00:05:22 UTC 2009


Quentin Hartman wrote:
> 
> 
> <Devil's advocate>
> 
> For me the question becomes, "Why not use it?". It's already there.
> For my use, it's functionally the same as any other login method, and
> offers no perceptible drawbacks[1]. Removing it would simply be more
> effort without real purpose, which seems it would be counter to your
> "simplify" mantra. Isn't the goal of simplicity to make things be less
> work?

I appreciate the advocacy.  :-)

The reason is I'm figuring on doing a minimal reinstall; that is, on 
Debian anyway, installing just the base system and proceeding from 
there, installing what I need.  So it's not so much a question of 
removing what's already here as it is, should I reinstall this?  And the 
reason for that is, as I intimated, primarily as learning experience. 
I'd kind of like to work a bit with the bare bones to get to know them 
better, then add more bones and some flesh as I learn.  I don't really 
want to go the whole Linux from Scratch route -- not enough time, 
energy, or interest to do that with a system I probably would get tired 
of trying to maintain anyway.  I want a sandbox, but I don't want to 
have to haul in the sand.

I've been using Debian for a while now, am pretty wedded to it I think, 
and it is sufficiently complex (to me, anyway) that by the time all 
these extras and do-dads are layered on top, I really don't understand 
very much about what's going on, especially when it comes to solving 
problems.  It's like trying to learn anatomy by poking at a full-grown 
person -- it's really easier if you start with a skeleton.

My approach to problem-solving has been: 1) Google, 2) mailing lists and 
newsgroups, 3) reference books.  These have mostly come through for me, 
but it's left me with a spotty, haphazard and incomplete understanding 
of how this Linux thingy really works.  And considering how long I've 
been using Linux, I'm pretty disappointed with myself that I don't get 
more of it and haven't advanced beyond where I am.  I've no tech 
background or training, no programming experience, never taken a class 
remotely related to computers beyond command-line basics at Free Geek, 
when I volunteered there.  I didn't grow up with computers (heck, back 
when I lived in Cupertino there were still vacant fields and old 
abandoned farmhouses).  I don't think you have to have any of these 
things to use Linux, or even FreeBSD.  (Most of my Windows-using friends 
response to something going wonky is, "I need a new computer," so I 
guess you don't need those things to use Windows either.)  But I want to 
understand the system better than I do, and truthfully I probably do 
understand more that I realize.  The problem is, I don't realize.

  > [1] - Sure it consumes some resources, but come on, it's not 1999. I
> don't care about something that is consuming some fraction of a single
> percent of my "mostly-idle most of the time anyway" computer's
> resources. Computer time is cheap, my time is not.

Yes, but I would like to invest some time in learning what uses those 
resources.  I'd like to see, what does 'top' look like with a minimal 
install?  What does it look like after adding various capabilities?  How 
do system configurations and directories change?  At what stages do all 
these .dot files show up in my home directory?  (A few of them, to this 
day, remain something of a mystery to me.)  The goal of simplicity for 
me, right now, is to make things more comprehensible, not necessarily 
make them less work.  Also, I have been having some hardware issues, 
which got dramatically better when I got rid of GNOME.  I'd like to get 
to the bottom of the problem (which may very well be, I need a new 
something-or-another, probably motherboard or power supply or CPU).

I still have some more ducks to row before I do this.  I can learn 
plenty with what I've got going, and intend to practice some more with 
certain CLI and ncurses apps, some bash lessons, some perl practice, so 
that I'm not lost in the dark with a minimal system and don't reinstall 
everything in a panic.  That's why I'm taking a closer look at what I've 
got and trying to figure out, what's it good for? How does it work? Do I 
need it / want it?

Michael M.



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