Re: Why Debian

[Nate Bargmann <n0nb@n0nb.us>]

* On 2013 10 Nov 09:17 -0600, thomas aylward wrote:
> how does a novice begin with debian?  Tom

Hi Tom.

Andy listed several ways as well so I'll try not to duplicate his list.

I think most important is reading and studying.  Shoot, I had to do that
when I got an Android phone earlier this year!

If an installation is to be done, the Debian Install guide is probably
the best resource:

http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/installmanual

Andy mentioned the Debian Handbook which can be found online at:

http://debian-handbook.info/

Also of interest may be Debian History:

http://www.debian.org/doc/misc-manuals#history

and the Debian Quick Reference:

http://www.debian.org/doc/user-manuals#quick-reference

and Reference Card:

http://www.debian.org/doc/user-manuals#refcard

I know that many people don't like reading and just want to jump in and
go and I can be that way as well, but I have found that a bit of study
beforehand makes things much easier and understandable.

Another source of information is the Linux Documentation Project which
is more general and not distribution specific focusing on getting
started with a GNU based Unix like system.  Several guides are available
for the novice.  although they seem a bit dated, the ground they cover
doesn't change that much.

I started with the Installation and Getting Started Guide by Matt Welsh
and others back in 1996:

http://tldp.org/LDP/gs/gs.html

Then after a bit of study, get your hands dirty!

- Nate

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