Baslinux mailing list

[Lee Forrest <lforrestster AT gmail.com>]

On Tue, Feb 20, 2007 at 09:33:29AM +1030, Greg Mayman wrote:
> On Mon, 19 Feb 2007 04:11:48 +0000, Lee Forrest wrote:
> 
> > Reading is important, and the linux runner will be doing a lot
> > of it. From now until forever.
> 
> Agreed!
> 
> > But practicing (applying/experimenting-with) what one has read
> > is critical to the learning process.
> 
> Agreed!
> 
> > Books are good, but on-line docs are much more convenient.
> 
> Maybe I'm just too oldfashioned, but I find ink-on-paper next to the
> computer to be the most convenient.

Yeh. I like books too. But not for computer work.

They are such different mediums.

> And I can take the book with me at bedtime and read or reread sections
> of it in preparation for the next day's practice.

I guess that must be a matter of personal style. When I walk away
from my computer, it's to do _other_ things.

If I'm going to read a book, it _won't_ be about computers.

(Right now, it's "Sherwood" by Parke Godwin, an attempt to tell the
[likely] true story of Robin Hood by an historian. It's excellent.)

For one thing, whenever I read about something to do with
computers, I just have to _try_ it, or hit the web for more
information on the subject.

> > If you
> > are going to use books, get a book stand or a sturdy music stand.
> 
> I have a cleared space in front of the processor box that is ideal for
> placing printed texts.
> 
> > (So that you can have the book open at the level of your screen
> > and right beside it.)
> 
> Having it higher or lower allows you to use your eye muscles and/or neck
> muscles. I learned years ago that adjusting things for minimimum
> movement while working is the best way to get stiffness or RSI.

I guess that's a matter of personal style, too. I prefer to get
up and do mild exercises every once a while.

> > When you read about something, explore it on your computer. If
> > the book/net-doc is talking about the proc virtual filesystem, cd
> > to /proc and check it out. Use the manpage to explain what the
> > book doesn't. If the book is covering commands to run, run them.
> > Check out the manpage and experiment with the various options and
> > args.
> 
> Exactly!
> 
> > And so on.
> 
> > (There are also the info pages, if you have them installed with the
> > info program, and the docs in /usr/doc.)
> 
> > For BasicLinux, which is slackware based, there are many relevant
> > docs on the various slackware sites, most of which are linked to
> > slackware.com.
> 
> > There are the HOWTOs (and other docs and links) at tldp.org
> 
> > There are many manpage repositories, like http://www.linuxmanpages.com/
> 
> > Here's an interesting link:  http://www.linuxforums.org/
> 
> > There are lessons galore on the web. Here's one course (can't vouch for
> > its quality or lack thereof)  http://www.linux.org/lessons/
> 
> > The mailing list archives of gnu.org are a treasure:
> 
> > http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/
> 
> > You know about the BasicLinux list archives.
> 
> > This is a seemingly-dated linux course that is excellent:
> 
> > http://rute.2038bug.com/rute.html.tar.bz2
> 
> Noted. I'm saving this message, may even make a hardcopy of it, so I can
> check out all those links, and read and reread your suggestions.
> 
> Thanks a million, Lee.
> 
> Although I have already started doing some of the things you suggest,
> advice like yours is a BIG help.

Thanks Greg. I know that a lot of this was old news to
computer-savvy folks like you. I tried to cover all the bases for
the literal newbies.

Lee

-- 
BasicLinux: Small is Beautiful
http://www.basiclinux.com.ru