New user and questions

[SRB]

Byron Sonne wrote:

>> Although being new to Linux, I have experience with M$ windows and 
>> Mac OS. Unfortunately no experience with any UNIX-related OSes.
>
>
> If you've been exposed to NT or 2000, more specifically as a server, 
> you'll find some of the concepts, if not alot, translate fairly well 
> at a high level. Things called 'services' in NT can be considered 
> 'daemons' in unix, the separate drive letters presented in windows are 
> akin to 'mount points' in unix, that kind of thing. Within reason, of 
> course.

Yes I have been using NT exclusively in my work environment for the past 
decade I think! I've done some Server Admin (though nothing too extreme) 
as well as some Oracle admin (mainly just a tiny bit of SQL). I've 
installed/configured/troubleshot (is that a real word? :-) ) NT on many 
different platforms (desktop/laptop). I use 2000 at home currently. 
Someone gave me the advice when moving from windows to Linux "to forget 
all you know", although I understand that the underlying principles are 
the same for every OS... just the road you take to get there can be very 
different.

> Mailing lists such as this are definitely one of your best resources, 
> and google is (usually) always your friend. There is alot of good 
> documentation out there, some of it obsolete, but a large amount of it 
> quite good and geared for people starting out. Trust me, we want 
> people to switch! Muahahaha... When I started out, I found 
> http://www.linux.org/ quite handy too.
>
> If you're serious about being an admin/'power user' there is *no* 
> avoiding the command line interface, or the 'shell' as it is often 
> referred to. Also, generally speaking, most programs have their own 
> config files, and the OS has a bunch of them for itself too. You can 
> tweak these by hand, but most distros can manage them all for you, and 
> are usually set to do that by default. Some good articles here well 
> worth reading: http://polylithic.net/cli/articles.html

Luckily my experience does go back to DOS days. I got serious into 
computers in 1991... DOS with windows 3.1 on top. I always feel more in 
control when using a CLI/shell.

> May I ask if you've considered any particular linux distribution yet?
>
> If you haven't, hold off for a while until you can get the opinions of 
> more list members (I'll vouch for SuSE http://www.suse.com). Linux is 
> just a kernel, but what you dress it up with can profoundly affect 
> your personal experience. What configuration 'wizards', what desktop 
> environment, software management, etc, can vary fairly widely between 
> distributions. Most of all, use what feels best to you... or rather, 
> make it feel the way you want. You can always roll your own!

Currently, due to my dial-up connection I have installed Red Hat 9 that 
came with "Red Hat Linux 9 for Dummies" book. The reason I bought it is 
from my previous experience with "Mac OS 8.5 for Dummies" book which I 
really liked. I've also downloaded the small Live CD distro Morphix 
(http://morphix.sourceforge.net/). I believe strongly in the Open Source 
model and want to select and use non-commercial distros exclusively 
(even though I indirectly paid for Red Hat with the book LOL). I don't 
mind getting my hands dirty and in fact I prefer to be able to customize 
as much as possible.

I also have O'Reilly's "Linux in a Nutshell" which I like because it 
lists a whole bunch of commands. :->

> Invest the time, it can be a very rewarding experience :)
>
> Regards,
> Byron

I do intend to invest a lot of time. From my experiences in the past I 
have always enjoyed learning more to achieve more.

Thanks for your detailed response.

-Steve.
--
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