RE: DRobbins 2007.0 review

Chad wrote:

> I just finished my undergrad. About two years ago I
took up Gentoo as a
> student on my own and the handbook was the best linux
doc I'd ever seen at
> that point.  My first hand experience helping
classmates is similar to yours
> however. There is a huge gap to be bridged for windows
/ mac / gnome / kde
> users to get into gentoo.  Huge like, what's a kernel
and why should I
> configure it, or the fact that tar.bz2 is a compressed
file tree, not an
> executable install file ala windows setup.exe.  I
seriously had a classmate
> ask me half way through the semester of my operating
systems course how to
> change the current directory.  He never used DOS
growing up, like most kids
> my age.
> 
> Things like chroot, tar and symbolic links are
demonstrated but their
> practical application is not well explained.  Do you
annoy the savvy or help
> the newbies?

My position is that the Handbook is well suited for the
savvy and that Linux
newbies need their own, separate document that is
specifically designed to meet
their needs.  Listed below are most of the pieces of
information that I found
newbies needed more help with while installing Gentoo.  The
document I created
explains each of these topics and I found that ( in most
cases ) this is all
that needs to be done to help newbies bridge the gap
between
windows/mac/gnome/kde and the Gentoo Handbook.

Thanks 

Ted


- What is GNU?
- What are the main parts of an operating system and what
does each part do?
- What is a GNU/Linux distribution?
- What is VMware?
- What is a .iso file?
- What does the ifconfig program do?
- What does the ping command do?
- What is a file?
- What is a filesystem?
- What is a hierarchal filesystem?
- What is a directory?
- What does the cd command do?
- What does the pwd command do?
- What does the ls command do?
- What does the -l option do when passed to the ls command?
- What is a symbolic link?
- In an ls long listing, how does one know which entries are
files, directories
and links?
- What is the purpose of the /mnt directory?
- What is a path?
- What is a path separator?
- What is contained in the /bin directory?
- What does the "more" command do?
- What does a "pipe" do and what is its symbol?
- What does the -a option do when passed to the ls command?
- What is the purpose of the /proc directory?
- What is the purpose of the /etc directory?
- What is the purpose of the /home directory?
- What is abstraction and why is it useful?
- What is an interface and how is an interface related to
abstraction?
- What is a block device?
- What is a character device?
- What is the purpose of the /dev directory?
- What does partitioning a hard drive do to it?
- What did we use the hda1 partition for?
- What did we use the hda2 partition for?
- What did we use the hda3 partition for?
- What is a hard drive cylinder?
- What "type code" is given to Linux partitions?
- What is the main difference between the Ext2 filesystem
and the Ext3
filesystem?
- What command is used to place the Ext2 filesystem on a
partition?
- What is the purpose of a swap partition?
- Where did we mount the /dev/hda3 partition in the CD's
directory hierarchy?
- Where did we mount the /dev/hda1 partition in the CD's
directory hierarchy?
- What command is used to set the motherboard's clock chip?
- What does the .tar file extension mean?
- What does the .bz2 file extension mean?
- What does it mean when a file has a .tar.bz2 extension?
- What does the wget command do?
- What is a message digest?
- What command did we use to determine the MD5 message
digest for a file.
- Why are message digests used with large download files on
the Internet?
- What is contained in a Gentoo stage3 file?
- What does the tar command's 'j' option mean?
- What is the portage tree?
- Where is the portage tree in the directory hierarchy?
- List 3 packages that are in the games-mud category in the
portage tree.
- What is the difference between the / top-level root
directory and the /root
directory?
- What does the chroot command do?
- What does DHCP do?
- How can you tell how long your computer has been running?
- What is a dumb terminal and why are they called 'dumb'?
- What is a teletype?
- What is a shell?
- What is a terminal emulator and why were they invented?
- How do you switch between virtual terminals in Gentoo
linux?
- What is a shell environment variable?
- Which environment variable holds the command line prompt
configuration?
- Which command is used to change a shell's environment
variables?
- What keys need to be pressed to save a file in the nano
text editor?
- What keys need to be pressed to exit the nano text
editor?
- If you are on a Linux system, and you want to obtain
information about what a
command does, how can you do this from the command line?
- What is ASCII?
- What is the decimal ASCII number for a capital letter
'A'?
- What are USE flags used for?
- What does the 'less' command do that the 'more' command
cannot do?
- What 2 files contain descriptions of the USE flags and
where are these files
located in the directory hierarchy?
- Into which file are USE flags placed so that they can be
seen by portage?
- Which directory holds the timezone information for all of
the world's
timezones?
- Which package was emerged that contained the Linux source
code?
- What command runs the kernel configuration utility
program?
- What does the lspci command do?
- What is a kernel module?
- What is the difference between arrow braces <> and
square braces [] in the
menuconfig program?
- In the menuconfig program, how does one exit from the
current menu?
- What effect does placing a period in front of a filename
have?
- What is the filename of the file that the menuconfig
program saves the kernel
configuration in?
- When the kernel is compiled, what is the name of the file
that is created and
where is it located?
- What is the purpose of the fstab file?
- What is a system service?
- What does the syslog-ng service do?
- What is grub?
- What command creates a user account?
- What is the command that sets a password?
<end>
-- 
gentoo-docgentoo.org mailing list

TED KOSAN WROTE:
> MY POSITION IS THAT THE HANDBOOK IS WELL SUITED FOR THE
SAVVY AND THAT LINUX
> NEWBIES NEED THEIR OWN, SEPARATE DOCUMENT THAT IS
SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED TO MEET
> THEIR NEEDS.  LISTED BELOW ARE MOST OF THE PIECES OF
INFORMATION THAT I FOUND
> NEWBIES NEEDED MORE HELP WITH WHILE INSTALLING GENTOO. 
THE DOCUMENT I CREATED
> EXPLAINS EACH OF THESE TOPICS AND I FOUND THAT ( IN
MOST CASES ) THIS IS ALL
> THAT NEEDS TO BE DONE TO HELP NEWBIES BRIDGE THE GAP
BETWEEN
> WINDOWS/MAC/GNOME/KDE AND THE GENTOO HANDBOOK.
> 
> 
> - WHAT IS [FOO]

AND ALL THAT IS FOUND BY GOOGLING, AS IT SHOULD BE. WE
CREATE DOCUMENTS
 SPECIFICALLY FOR GENTOO LINUX, FOR WHEN THERE IS A
DISTRIBUTION-SPECIFIC WAY OF DOING SOMETHING. GENERAL LINUX
INFO THAT IS
NOT SPECIFIC TO GENTOO DOES NOT BELONG; GO ELSEWHERE FOR
THAT. WE HAVE
DONE AN ADMIRABLE JOB ABOUT GETTING USERS UP TO SPEED ON
SOME OF THE
LINUX BASICS AS THEY PERTAIN TO GENTOO IN OUR HANDBOOK; THAT
IS ALL THEY
NEED. KEEP IN MIND THAT WE TREAT EVEN CERTAIN LINUX
FUNDAMENTALS QUITE
DIFFERENTLY FROM HOW THEY'RE USED IN OTHER DISTROS.

I (PERSONALLY )DON'T
THINK WE'LL BE USING YOUR DOCUMENT ANYTIME SOON.
OUR HANDBOOK SERVES ITS PURPOSE, WHICH IS TO INTRODUCE
SOMEONE TO GENTOO
LINUX.

I WAS A COMPLETE NEWCOMER TO LINUX; GENTOO WAS THE FIRST
DISTRO THAT I
SUCCESSFULLY INSTALLED (HAVING UNSUCCESSFULLY USED CRAPPY
UBUNTU LIVECDS
LATE IN 2004). THAT WAS IN '05. I HAD NEVER USED THE COMMAND
LINE
BEFORE. GENTOO WAS A PLUNGE INTO THE DEEP END OF THE POOL
FOR ME, BUT AS
SOON AS I INSTALLED IT, I WAS ABLE TO KEEP IT AND USE IT AS
MY PRIMARY
(WITHIN A FEW MONTHS *ONLY*) OS.

THAT'S A TESTAMENT TO HOW WELL OUR HANDBOOK AND OTHER
DOCUMENTS ARE PUT
TOGETHER, AS WELL AS THE QUALITY OF SUPPORT I RECEIVED A FEW
TIMES ON
THE FORUMS. I BELIEVE OUR HANDBOOK MEETS OUR REQUIREMENTS,
WHICH IS
INTRODUCING POTENTIAL USERS TO GENTOO. COMPLETE NEWBIES TO
LINUX IN
GENERAL NEED A SPECIFIC RESOURCES *JUST FOR THAT*, AS I'VE
SAID BEFORE:
THERE ARE PLENTY OF "LINUX FOR DUMMIES" AND
"SPRING INTO LINUX"-TYPE
BOOKS AT LOCAL BOOKSTORES. I WON'T RECOMMEND THAT USERS WHO
FIND GENTOO
TOO HARD TRY BOOKS FOR UBUNTU ETC.; I THINK THAT THEY ARE
BOTH WITHIN
REACH EVEN FOR NEWCOMERS ... AS I ONCE WAS.