As i mentioned at the meeting this past week I am going to be giving a seminar for linux newbies and would like to pull from people that know better then i do on what i should teach people. What i would like to know is: What are some things that you wish you had known as a newbie? Think back to your very first linux install and any short-cuts, tips, tricks, and gatcha's that would make peoples first experience easier. There is a lot of windows resentment after the slow trainwreck that is vista, so lets see if we can get a few new converts! P.S. one of the big concerns for a few people that i have talked to has been games, if anyone has a list of new-ish games that work or any tips specific to making the most recent generation work under linux, that would make things much easier ;)
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Kevin Harrington wrote:
As i mentioned at the meeting this past week I am going to be giving a seminar for linux newbies and would like to pull from people that know better then i do on what i should teach people. What i would like to know is: What are some things that you wish you had known as a newbie? Think back to your very first linux install and any short-cuts, tips, tricks, and gatcha's that would make peoples first experience easier. There is a lot of windows resentment after the slow trainwreck that is vista, so lets see if we can get a few new converts!
Hi Kevin, When I was a newbie, Linux live CDs didn't yet exist, but they do now! I find the Knoppix CD/DVD useful for testing a new piece of hardware (like a laptop) to see if all of the pieces work with Linux. I believe that the Ubuntu CDs can also boot up in a live mode. In this way, you can try Linux without messing with your hard drive, and also see if your hardware works with that distribution. Note that if something doesn't work with the live CD, that doesn't necessarily mean it won't work with Linux at all, but demonstrating that something *does* work is a good thing. Just a thought... So, when are you resurrecting WPILA?! :-) Andy - -- Andy Stewart, Founder Worcester Linux Users' Group (http://www.wlug.org) Chelmsford Linux Meetup Group (http://linux.meetup.com/393) Amateur Radio: KB1OIQ -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.2 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with SUSE - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFHP8pAHl0iXDssISsRAkIlAJ9jTYAhCb3UkpsR7d1A4AWtufiv4wCgiICP 1T+k0toR3pc9MyRrDjSM2PE= =oBFq -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
On Nov 18, 2007 12:14 AM, Andy Stewart <andystewart@comcast.net> wrote:
Hi Kevin,
When I was a newbie, Linux live CDs didn't yet exist, but they do now!
I find the Knoppix CD/DVD useful for testing a new piece of hardware (like a laptop) to see if all of the pieces work with Linux. I believe that the Ubuntu CDs can also boot up in a live mode. In this way, you can try Linux without messing with your hard drive, and also see if your hardware works with that distribution.
With Fedora 8, there's also a Fedora Live CD. I tried it on my laptop. Works nicely, though it (like Ubuntu, when I had it installed) didn't see my built-in webcam at all. :( All else aside, I'm actually pleased to see the LiveCD for Fedora. I've been using Red Hat variants since the early 1990s, and I like to know what things look like before I install it. (For those that might be new to the term, Live CDs are handy for using Linux on systems that you can't install Linux on otherwise.)
Note that if something doesn't work with the live CD, that doesn't necessarily mean it won't work with Linux at all, but demonstrating that something *does* work is a good thing.
Even then, many of the things that don't work out-of-the-box will work with a little research and poking. My webcam just isn't one of them, as far as i can tell. :\ -- Bill Smith Fall River, MA Charter Member of LOPSA
Kevin, I guess the question I would first ask is: "What's the technical inclinations of the people you're going to be teaching?". If their geeks like us, then I'd go into using package managers and I'd talk about the nitty gritty stuff. If their not geeks, then you need to take a different tact. Instead of talking about linux as an operating system and extolling the virtues of open source, instead talk about the applications that are available on linux and how they stack up to what their already using. The games question is a sticky one... there are lots of cool games for linux, any particular genre you're interested in? On Nov 18, 2007 12:01 AM, Kevin Harrington <mad.hephaestus@gmail.com> wrote:
As i mentioned at the meeting this past week I am going to be giving a seminar for linux newbies and would like to pull from people that know better then i do on what i should teach people. What i would like to know is: What are some things that you wish you had known as a newbie? Think back to your very first linux install and any short-cuts, tips, tricks, and gatcha's that would make peoples first experience easier. There is a lot of windows resentment after the slow trainwreck that is vista, so lets see if we can get a few new converts!
P.S. one of the big concerns for a few people that i have talked to has been games, if anyone has a list of new-ish games that work or any tips specific to making the most recent generation work under linux, that would make things much easier ;) _______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list Wlug@mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug
-- I am leary of the allegiances of any politician who refers to their constituents as "consumers".
One of the most basic things that I had to learn with ubuntu was how to access the support which exists... and there is a lot of it on the web. Googling "howto ubuntu FOO" can kill half of my problems in the first ten hits. Synaptic and the Update manager etc. are also key. On Nov 19, 2007 1:32 PM, Tim Keller <turbofx@gmail.com> wrote:
Kevin,
I guess the question I would first ask is: "What's the technical inclinations of the people you're going to be teaching?".
If their geeks like us, then I'd go into using package managers and I'd talk about the nitty gritty stuff.
If their not geeks, then you need to take a different tact. Instead of talking about linux as an operating system and extolling the virtues of open source, instead talk about the applications that are available on linux and how they stack up to what their already using.
The games question is a sticky one... there are lots of cool games for linux, any particular genre you're interested in?
On Nov 18, 2007 12:01 AM, Kevin Harrington < mad.hephaestus@gmail.com> wrote:
As i mentioned at the meeting this past week I am going to be giving a seminar for linux newbies and would like to pull from people that know better then i do on what i should teach people. What i would like to know is: What are some things that you wish you had known as a newbie? Think back to your very first linux install and any short-cuts, tips, tricks, and gatcha's that would make peoples first experience easier. There is a lot of windows resentment after the slow trainwreck that is vista, so lets see if we can get a few new converts!
P.S. one of the big concerns for a few people that i have talked to has been games, if anyone has a list of new-ish games that work or any tips specific to making the most recent generation work under linux, that would make things much easier ;) _______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list Wlug@mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug
-- I am leary of the allegiances of any politician who refers to their constituents as "consumers". _______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list Wlug@mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug
As i mentioned at the meeting this past week I am going to be giving a seminar for linux newbies and would like to pull from people that know better then i do on what i should teach people. What i would like to know is: What are some things that you wish you had known as a newbie? Think back to your very first linux install and any short-cuts, tips, tricks, and gatcha's that would make peoples first experience easier. There is a lot of windows resentment after the slow trainwreck that is vista, so lets see if we can get a few new converts! My biggest thing would be to explain to people (at all levels) how to do what they are currently doing. Firefox for browsing, OO.o for Office stuff, gimp for photoshop, etc. I also agree with Tim in
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Kevin Harrington wrote: pitching to your audience, and Andy has a great point with making sure stuff works via LiveCDs. When I was a newbie I just wanted to read books on all the stuff. If you have some people like that, I'd point them to their distro docs / google. HTH Eric -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.7 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFHSPXDaiVxdKlBO58RAp4RAJ9l/162tA/6wqSYrRMx+kbdCh9ipACfYrM8 3gkLyp8yT/viUpXknRVdgy8= =PshY -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
participants (6)
-
Andy Stewart -
Brian A. Dewhirst -
Eric Martin -
Kevin Harrington -
Tim Keller -
William Smith