I keep wanting to get to grips with Linux - in order to learn more about
computing.

I have messed about with a few distros - enough to get a rough idea of
Linux - but now it seems advisable to make a choice and stick to it - so
as to go a bit deeper.

Debian appeals because it seems the purest distro - with no commercial
involvement whatsoever. But it has the reputation of being extremely
unfriendly to newbies - and hell to install!

So I'm going to have a go - and hope that some people on this newsgroup
will be sympathetic enough to dumb down to my level.

At the moment I'm downloading the DVD image of the first DVD for Sarge.

What would be a good learning sequence?
Is there a sort of checklist of things to learn?
Do I need books?
What is the best source of help? (I am isolated.)
Any tips about things I probably haven' thought of?
--
Chris

* Chris Wrote in alt.os.linux.debian:

> I keep wanting to get to grips with Linux - in order to learn more
> about computing.
>
> I have messed about with a few distros - enough to get a rough
> idea of Linux - but now it seems advisable to make a choice and
> stick to it - so as to go a bit deeper.
>
> Debian appeals because it seems the purest distro - with no
> commercial involvement whatsoever. But it has the reputation of
> being extremely unfriendly to newbies - and hell to install!

Grab Ubuntu. It is Debian based and a breeze to install. Its a great,
newbie friendly distro.

>
> So I'm going to have a go - and hope that some people on this
> newsgroup will be sympathetic enough to dumb down to my level.
>
> At the moment I'm downloading the DVD image of the first DVD for
> Sarge.
>
> What would be a good learning sequence?
> Is there a sort of checklist of things to learn?

Yup:

1) Boot
2) Compute

> Do I need books?

Not really but....

http://rute.2038bug.com/index.html.gz

> What is the best source of help? (I am isolated.)

Usenet.

> Any tips about things I probably haven' thought of?

Way too many to list. Just load it up and start learning, its the
most practical and likely the fastest way to learn.

--
David

In article <Xns96E691FD1CD04Louiscypherhellorg@140.99.99.130> , SINNER
<arcade.master@googlemail.net> writes
>* Chris Wrote in alt.os.linux.debian:
>>
>> Debian appeals because it seems the purest distro - with no
>> commercial involvement whatsoever.

>Grab Ubuntu. It is Debian based and a breeze to install. Its a great,
>newbie friendly distro.

Point taken - although Ubuntu does involve a company - and I am
attracted to the purity of the Debian ideal.
These other distros are described as "Debian based" - and so I thought,
"Why not go to the source?"
Would I stand a chance of installing the pure Debian?
--
Chris

* Chris Wrote in alt.os.linux.debian:

> In article <Xns96E691FD1CD04Louiscypherhellorg@140.99.99.130> ,
> SINNER <arcade.master@googlemail.net> writes
>>* Chris Wrote in alt.os.linux.debian:
>>>
>>> Debian appeals because it seems the purest distro - with no
>>> commercial involvement whatsoever.
>
>>Grab Ubuntu. It is Debian based and a breeze to install. Its a
>>great, newbie friendly distro.
>
> Point taken - although Ubuntu does involve a company - and I am
> attracted to the purity of the Debian ideal.

Did you read the Ubuntu mission Statement?

http://www.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/

It really is a great Distro, I came to it from Mandrake and I am not
sorry.

> These other distros are described as "Debian based" - and so I
> thought, "Why not go to the source?"

> Would I stand a chance of installing the pure Debian?

Absolutely.

--
David

In article <Xns96E69D314542CLouiscypherhellorg@140.99.99.130> , SINNER
<arcade.master@googlemail.net> writes
>* Chris Wrote in alt.os.linux.debian:
>> In article <Xns96E691FD1CD04Louiscypherhellorg@140.99.99.130> ,
>> SINNER <arcade.master@googlemail.net> writes
>>>* Chris Wrote in alt.os.linux.debian:

>>>> Debian appeals because it seems the purest distro - with no
>>>> commercial involvement whatsoever.

>>>Grab Ubuntu. It is Debian based and a breeze to install. Its a
>>>great, newbie friendly distro.

>> Point taken - although Ubuntu does involve a company - and I am
>> attracted to the purity of the Debian ideal.

>Did you read the Ubuntu mission Statement?
>http://www.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/
>It really is a great Distro, I came to it from Mandrake and I am not
>sorry.

OK - I have followed your link and read it - and I am impressed.
Is it acceptable to ask about Ubuntu in this newsgroup - because I
prefer newsgroups to web forums - and there doesn't seem to be a
newsgroup for Ubuntu?
--
Chris

* Chris Wrote in alt.os.linux.debian:

> In article <Xns96E69D314542CLouiscypherhellorg@140.99.99.130> ,
> SINNER <arcade.master@googlemail.net> writes
>>* Chris Wrote in alt.os.linux.debian:
>>> In article <Xns96E691FD1CD04Louiscypherhellorg@140.99.99.130> ,
>>> SINNER <arcade.master@googlemail.net> writes
>>>>* Chris Wrote in alt.os.linux.debian:
>
>>>>> Debian appeals because it seems the purest distro - with no
>>>>> commercial involvement whatsoever.
>
>>>>Grab Ubuntu. It is Debian based and a breeze to install. Its a
>>>>great, newbie friendly distro.
>
>>> Point taken - although Ubuntu does involve a company - and I am
>>> attracted to the purity of the Debian ideal.
>
>>Did you read the Ubuntu mission Statement?
>>http://www.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/
>>It really is a great Distro, I came to it from Mandrake and I am
>>not sorry.
>
> OK - I have followed your link and read it - and I am impressed.
> Is it acceptable to ask about Ubuntu in this newsgroup - because I
> prefer newsgroups to web forums - and there doesn't seem to be a
> newsgroup for Ubuntu?

I too am partial to Newsgroups, this one is OK but not very active. I
would suggest:

comp.os.linux
comp.os.linux.misc
alt.os.linux

However the Ubuntu forums are an irreplaceable fount of knowledge and
dont miss the unofficial starter guide or the how to index at the
forums.

--
David

Chris wrote:
> OK - I have followed your link and read it - and I am impressed.
> Is it acceptable to ask about Ubuntu in this newsgroup - because I
> prefer newsgroups to web forums - and there doesn't seem to be a
> newsgroup for Ubuntu?

You can use some of the Ubuntu forums via news:news.gmane.org

On Wed, 5 Oct 2005 21:36:10 +0100, Chris
<nospam@[127.0.0.1]> wrote:
>
> OK - I have followed your link and read it - and I am impressed.
> Is it acceptable to ask about Ubuntu in this newsgroup - because I
> prefer newsgroups to web forums - and there doesn't seem to be a
> newsgroup for Ubuntu?

Ubuntu has forums and mailing lists, which can be read as newsgroups on
the news.gmane.org server.

--
BOFH excuse #234:
Someone is broadcasting pygmy packets and the router doesn't know how to
deal with them.

On Wed, 05 Oct 2005 19:33:19 +0100, Chris wrote:

> I keep wanting to get to grips with Linux - in order to learn more about
> computing.
>
> I have messed about with a few distros - enough to get a rough idea of
> Linux - but now it seems advisable to make a choice and stick to it - so
> as to go a bit deeper.
>
> Debian appeals because it seems the purest distro - with no commercial
> involvement whatsoever. But it has the reputation of being extremely
> unfriendly to newbies - and hell to install!
>
> So I'm going to have a go - and hope that some people on this newsgroup
> will be sympathetic enough to dumb down to my level.
>
> At the moment I'm downloading the DVD image of the first DVD for Sarge.
>
> What would be a good learning sequence?
> Is there a sort of checklist of things to learn?
> Do I need books?
> What is the best source of help? (I am isolated.)
> Any tips about things I probably haven' thought of?

I'd recommend you do a Debian install from the Knoppix live CD or DVD. Or
maybe do the 'debian pure' install. I believe these will both get you to a
functioning debian with x windows quicker and more easily.

On alt.os.linux.debian, in <Tm6+A9AvxBRDFwPh@[127.0.0.1]>, "Chris" wrote:
<body not downloaded>

Here's what

http://groups.google.com/advanced_group_search

says about your posting history, "Chris":

Chris
Results 1 - 100 of 402,000 posts in the last year.
1 A-money-making-idea
1 Agent-Argumentation
1 EXCHANGESERVER
1 MUdrinking
1 Minds-Eye
1 Random-Witty-Name
1 World_Politics
2 alt.battlestar-galactica
1 alt.cellular.nextel
1 alt.games.microsoft.flight-sim
1 alt.marketing.online.ebay
1 alt.nl.ftp.verzoek
1 alt.politics
1 alt.politics.usa.republican
1 alt.polyamory
1 alt.religion.kibology
2 alt.support.diabetes
1 alt.tv.firefly
2 alt.tv.snl
1 aus.sport.aussie-rules
1 aus.sport.rugby-league
1 become-rich-easy
1 bgBass-L
1 borland.public.cppbuilder.language.cpp
1 comp.lang.c
1 comp.lang.java.help
1 comp.lang.java.programmer
1 comp.protocols.time.ntp
2 comp.unix.shell
1 de.alt.astrologie
1 de.etc.fahrzeug.auto
1 de.rec.garten
1 de.soc.verkehr
1 dk.edb.database
1 fa.freebsd.current
1 fr.rec.voyages
2 fr.soc.politique
2 hfx.forsale
1 ie93
1 it.arti.fotografia.digitale
1 kw.eats
1 microsoft.public.frontpage.client
1 microsoft.public.livecomm.general
1 microsoft.public.mappoint
1 microsoft.public.win32.programmer.directx.audio
1 microsoft.public.windows.mediacenter
1 microsoft.public.windows.networking.firewall
1 microsoft.public.windows.tabletpc
1 microsoft.public.windowsce.embedded.vc
1 misc.health.aids
1 mono-patches-list
1 mtl.forsale-vendre
1 myLifeOrganized
1 natinst.public.serial.general
1 netscape.public.mozilla.mail-news
4 news.admin.net-abuse.sightings
1 newsletter_subscriptions
1 nl.hobby.video
1 no.alt.motorsykler
1 rec.audio.pro
1 rec.gambling.poker
1 rec.games.bridge
1 rec.games.pinball
1 rec.music.makers.guitar.acoustic
1 rec.music.makers.guitar.jazz
1 rec.sport.cricket
1 sci.electronics.design
1 soc.support.fat-acceptance
1 spssx-l
1 sybase.public.sqlanywhere.general
2 talk.origins
1 talk.politics.guns
1 tw.bbs.campus.nctu
1 ucb.class.cs184
2 uk.comp.sys.mac
2 uk.d-i-y
1 uk.local.warwickshire
1 uk.misc
1 uk.people.disability
5 uk.politics.misc
1 uk.railway
1 uk.sci.astronomy
1 videoblogging
1 xen-devel-archive


1100 posts a day on average. Busy guy.

When you use a single common name for an alias, a lot of people
are going to think that you are a troll because that's what
troll's do to hide their posting histories: They make sure their
posts get lost among all of the other posts from people with
the same alias.

Do yourself a favor and go to:

http://groups.google.com/advanced_group_search

And find a unique alias by testing them in the author box.
Don't use any characters but a-zA-A0-9. Forget
about the email address, because people change them all the time
for various, legitimate, reasons.

If an alias returns zero hits, you can claim it for your own.
But unless you use it consistently, you won't be able to claim
a foul if someone else decides to use it. So don't be using
different aliases all the time like a lot of these fools do.

Myself and a lot of other people don't even read posts from
people using common names for aliases.

No, this post wasn't a big deal. My newsreader returns a report
like the above on the posting histories of anyone with a single
keystroke.

See the slrn directory on my website.

AC

--
Homepage: http://home.earthlink.net/~alanconnor/
Fanclub: http://www.pearlgates.net/nanae/kooks/alanconnor.shtml