Re: whew

[Clive Menzies <clive@clivemenzies.co.uk>]

On (12/02/04 16:29), Pedro M. wrote:
> That's a good news. In any case, I would like to see Debian-Newbie email 
> list.
> 
In view of recent discussion, this is unlikely to happen.  

I first installed Debian as a complete novice having used mainly Macs and 
some Windows PC's.

It was hard because of having to learn a whole new way of working and a
variety of languages and commands.  My first install was more of a
"project", installing debian on some rather esoteric Mac hardware that
wouldn't boot from the hard drive or floppy but had to boot into Linux
via Mac OS.  It took a long time to climb that particular learning curve
but along the way I really relied on debian-powerpc list and learnt a
huge amount.

I didn't "use" that machine because it was too low spec for a decent GUI
and the applications I generally run.  So it was a bit of a toy.
However, having got my feet wet, I got a G4 and did a full installation
with KDE 3 and Open Office.  It went much quicker but still had some
idiosyncracies due to the differences between Mac and Intel kit.  It
took only a few weeks to migrate fully from Mac OSX to woody.  It was
during this time that I found debian-user to be of great value, even as
a complete novice. Over that period I installed woody on two HP servers,
reinstalled the original Mac as a server and set up two dual booting
i86 workstations.

As a newbie, most of the posts went over my head but by degrees my
understanding grew and it became more and more useful.  Since then I
have been able to contribute help to others further down the learning
curve.  The level of Linux competance is a spectrum from complete
ignorance to mastery most of us are trying to migrate from the latter to
the former.

A newbie list wouldn't be of interest to me and given the volume of mail
already, I wouldn't subscribe.  So who would provide the knowledge for a
newbie list?  Whilst Debian people a very generous with their time and
patience, they have their own interests and goals to pursue.  Seperating
newbies out would mean that the knowledgeable will have to go out of
their way to help.

Sorry, this started as a brief response ;(

Regards

Clive
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