[Techtalk] New to the list...new to linux

[Kai MacTane]

At 9/30/01 11:10 AM , Rachel Herold wrote:
>1.
>I think tactile learning works best for quite a few people.

Yes, yes, *YES*!!! When I'm trying to teach someone to do something on a 
computer, regardless of which OS it is, I never sit down and show them how 
to do it. Instead, I put *them* at the keyboard, stand behind the person, 
and tell them, "Now do this... then click on that..."

That way, the person has done it themselves. Not only does it build their 
confidence, it also helps them ingrain the moves into their nervous system.

>2.
>I still believe in tactile learning and would love to get on the system and
>poke around but if I am a brand new user I don't know the basic commands.
>How do I list my files?  How do I find the man pages?  Basic user commands
>are very difficult (or were for me) to find on the net. I would love a guide
>that lists maybe 10 of the most basic commands.  ls, cd, man, with the most
>basic, say maybe 2 or 3, attributes.

I think there may be a few of those on the Net somewhere... I don't recall 
where, unfortunately.

>(note: I installed SuSe by myself, found my files, found my man pages for
>"ls" but they were all in german! ack!  talking with other people this is
>apparently common because SuSe is a german version of linux and there is a
>command to change the option there, yes, the OS was installed in English,
>it's just the man pages that are in german.  So if there are wierd things
>like that that are potentially fatal to the learning process it might be
>nice to put in a note about how/where to find the solution for that)

You can find man pages (in English) online at http://www.rt.com/man/, or by 
going to Google and entering "man [whatever command you want]".

                                                 --Kai MacTane
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"And the Devil in a black dress watches over,
  My guardian angel walks away..."
                                                 --Sisters of Mercy,
                                                  "Temple of Love"