An article about being a newbie...

[KGIII]

I've never felt very welcome at any Windows forum.

For better or worse, that's what it's like at most forums. There are some exceptions and I'd like to think we're one of them.

I recently dove into Linux headfirst.

I own linux-tips.us (which you'll see referenced here with some regularity).

As a brand new Linux user, you could do me a favor - but only if you're up to it. (I noticed you like to write.)

You could write an article for the site, specifically titled, "What It's Like To Be A New Linux User".

You could aim for 600 to 1200 words.

See, I can't write such an article. I no longer remember what it's like, plus I have some Unix in my background. For me, moving to Linux as soon as I realistically could was just the natural progression.

 

[Sherri is a Cat]

For better or worse, that's what it's like at most forums. There are some exceptions and I'd like to think we're one of them.

This DEFINITELY one of those forums.

(I noticed you like to write.)

Actually, I have a problem with rambling! The people here put up with it, another reason this such a great forum.
It's worse in person. I always say I can carry on a conversation with anyone. I can do both sides of the talking and you don't even have to present for it to happen!
I have to be mindful of this. When I see a certain look on peoples I know I gone too far again, I need to stop RIGHT NOW. It's obvious what they're thinking. "When is she going to shut up long enough for me to make a polite exit? If she doesn't stop soon, I'm just going to have to turn and walk away while she's still carrying on".

Be glad this a forum, it's all in writing. You don't have to wait me for to stop! When I'm typing, I review what I wrote to cut out at least some of my rambling. Sometimes I forget though. Thank god someone always tells me I'm getting off topic and if necessary they delete my post!

You could write an article for the site, specifically titled, "What It's Like To Be A New Linux User".

You could aim for 600 to 1200 words.

I'd be happy to do that. But I better figure out how to do a word count! Someone should definitely proof read it too.

 

[Sherri is a Cat]

@KGIII

In case you already saw my reply, I edited it. I'm told people won't know when I edit responses.

 

[KGIII]

@KGIII

In case you already saw my reply, I edited it. I'm told people won't know when I edit responses.

All good. I'm going to split these off to a different thread so we don't make too much off-topic content.

 

[KGIII]

@KGIII

In case you already saw my reply, I edited it. I'm told people won't know when I edit responses.

Thread moved. Respond to this one, so we don't derail the timeshift thread.

And, mods/admins can see edits. Regular users probably can't.

And, I'll definitely proofread and edit it. You can use the wordcount as a goal and not actually a strict rule. If it's longer, it's longer. If it's shorter, it's shorter. It is what it is.

I'll likely break it up into chunks if you don't. It's easier on the reader if they're in sections of about 300 words.

(Yes, I've done a ton of research over the years. My articles are laid out how they're laid out for a reason. It's not perfect, but it's better than what I was doing.)

 

[Sherri is a Cat]

All good. I'm going to split these off to a different thread so we don't make too much off-topic content.

That's exactly what I was telling you about, going on and on! Thank you!

 

[Sherri is a Cat]

@KGIII

How soon would you like this? I can probably work on it Tuesday or Wednesday.

For something like this, I need to make an outline first. Write, consolidate, cut out gibberish, look for places I repeat myself, put it away for a day and look at it again.

And by the way, I did get A's in my composition courses in college. I had to work my but off for them though. I have an aunt who was a professor at TCU and I'm still mystified.

 

[KGIII]

@KGIII

How soon would you like this? I can probably work on it Tuesday or Wednesday.

For something like this, I need to make an outline first. Write, consolidate, cut out gibberish, look for places I repeat myself, put it away for a day and look at it again.

And by the way, I did get A's in my composition courses in college. I had to work my but off for them though. I have an aunt who was a professor at TCU and I'm still mystified.

Whenever you're ready, there's no rush. There's no deadline. There's no obligation. I just think it has the potential to be a valuable perspective that's worth sharing with a wider audience.

Not many of us regulars are 'new' to Linux. Even fewer would be interested in writing a veritable essay on the subject. You just seem to fit the bill nicely and I've long wanted someone who can perform such a feat.

I've been tempted to try to write it myself, but I can't trust my own mindset, and the 'new' experiences are long dulled by time and actual experience. While I have a large period of time with Windows in my background, I also have chunks of time with Unix experience. Moving to Linux as soon as I realistically could was just the obvious course.

 

[Sherri is a Cat]

Whenever you're ready, there's no rush. There's no deadline. There's no obligation. I just think it has the potential to be a valuable perspective that's worth sharing with a wider audience.

Not many of us regulars are 'new' to Linux. Even fewer would be interested in writing a veritable essay on the subject. You just seem to fit the bill nicely and I've long wanted someone who can perform such a feat.

I've been tempted to try to write it myself, but I can't trust my own mindset, and the 'new' experiences are long dulled by time and actual experience. While I have a large period of time with Windows in my background, I also have chunks of time with Unix experience. Moving to Linux as soon as I realistically could was just the obvious course.

The only caution I have is that I wasn't an average user of Windows. Probably more intermediate. I poked around a lot in the system settings. I made changes to IP settings, network settings, disabled settings in Windows update from the Command Shell...

To give you a related example:

My Samsung phone was close to bricked after the last UI update. I did a lot research on the problem at a lot of places, including the Samsung website. I tried every single tutorial to fix it on my own. After I exhausted all of those options, I contacted Samsung via chat.

I really don't like chat because I have to go through all of their questions, all the fixes that I already tried before I can finally tell them what's going on, in bits and pieces. I'm sure they're used to people who contact them before trying or even looking for a fix. They probably get things like "My phone isn't working", "won't ring"...

Now when I contact anyone via chat, I write everything I think they need to know in notepad. The very first thing I write is PLEASE READ THIS FIRST I lay out exactly what happened and what I've tried to do on my own. I copy and paste it into the chat window. After the guy at Samsung read it, he didn't ask a single question. He set up an appointment for me to take my phone into an authorized repair place.

Most people don't do that sort of thing or know 1/2 as much as I do about Windows. My friends call on me to fix their problems. Believe me, I've seen some problems! I compare Linux to Windows in terms of the things I know about Windows. I may not know yet how to do those things, but I'm not afraid to find out and try it myself.

I actually know people who are scared to install security software from a disk. That boggles my mind. I don't think I could relate to someone like that.

 

[KGIII]

The only caution I have is that I wasn't an average user of Windows

I suspect you'll find that to be true for most Linux users. Average users don't care and don't care to know.

 

[Sherri is a Cat]

Okay then! Sounds good to me!

 

[KGIII]

When you're ready (should you choose to do this), you can send the article via PM or by email.

There's even a fancy way to contribute articles, but that's a lot like work. So, I can manage the formatting and all that jazz. Proofreading and editing are a given. I can manage that. I already do a whole lot of that.

 

[Sherri is a Cat]

I've been thinking about what I would tell people.

Can I say I feel sorry for people still using that other OS?

I"m not serious about that, but I do feel sorry when I hear them say that their privacy is so well protected with that last version. And the people who are oblivious to the idea of fingerprinting. I especially feel sorry those who say, "I have nothing to hide".

 

[KGIII]

Can I say I feel sorry for people still using that other OS?

You can say pretty much anything you want. There are obvious limits, like hate speech, vulgarity, adult-themed content, etc...

Otherwise, it's your article. If you'd prefer, after you've submitted the article and I've done any editing, I can ship it back to you for review before publication.

 

[Sherri is a Cat]

I didn't get to do much on the article today. I was wrapping my mind around installing a VPN. I finally gave up trying to go it alone and posted about it here.
But this is an experience I can tell others about. Right now it seems like a lot more work. I'm sure as I become more familiar and understand things better it probably won't seem like so much!

One thing I thought of and I don't how significant this would be for someone new to Linux. A great thing to have would be a list of basic commands that everyone is going to need. Maybe there is out there, but I haven't had time to look for one.

With things like that, my mind has to organize them so I can understand it. I could be likened to Kings Play Chess on Fine Grain Sand. There are species within genus's, within Family's within Classes within Phylum's within Kingdoms.

These Classes are in the Kingdom and so on. It makes sense to me that all the parts of those commands mean something and can be put together to mean something else, like Latin prefixes, suffixes and roots.

A friend and I made up a word when I was in middle school.

Psuedopodicphobia

 

[KGIII]

A great thing to have would be a list of basic commands that everyone is going to need.

Linux Commands Cheat Sheet {with Free Downloadable PDF}

Linux command syntax may seem difficult to remember. Use our Linux Command Cheat Sheet. All the important commands in one pdf.

phoenixnap.com

 

[f33dm3bits]

I've never felt very welcome at any Windows forum. They always seemed to assume I have an empty head.

The biggest difference I've noticed between this forum and Windows forums is that the people here are so friendly. They don't seem to take life too damn seriously and are more than happy to help.

I've never felt very welcome at any Windows forum. They always seemed to assume I have an empty head.

You clearly haven't been to the Arch Linux forums or to r/archlinux

 

[Sherri is a Cat]

Linux Commands Cheat Sheet {with Free Downloadable PDF}

Linux command syntax may seem difficult to remember. Use our Linux Command Cheat Sheet. All the important commands in one pdf.

phoenixnap.com

This is awesome! Thanks!
I'm keeping a copy of this. I have a ton of stuff going on, so I won't be able to look at just now.

On that note, I'm working with Wizardfromoz in the Timeshift thread. I don't want to do much to this PC until I at least know how to "Restore" the system. I tried to install a VPN yesterday. I ran into problems and haven't figured out how to fix it on my own. This is a challenge that would good for an article. I'm learning a lot.

If I had this problem in Windows, I would know what to do. If I didn't, I can understand solutions I find on the internet. I know what key words to use, what they are talking about when they tell me where I need to go and what I need to do. I can "Speak Windows" if you will. When the solution requires something I don't know about, I have a good foundation. It doesn't take much effort to look up a word or explaination of what something is. Right now, my "Linux Speak" is about that of a kid just learning to talk. Just explaining my problem is can be a challenge.

I've installed a couple of things through the software manager. That takes less effort than anything I ever installed on Windows. But NordVPN isn't the repository. I have to use the command window. I can't download an executable file, click a few boxes, accept the toa and let it do it's thing. Not so in Linux.

 

[Sherri is a Cat]

You clearly haven't been to the Arch Linux forums or to r/archlinux

No, I haven't. Never even heard of it. My best guess is that it has something to do with Linux architecture, or (Ubunto?) that it's built on. I guess I'll be finding out!

 

[Sherri is a Cat]

This is awesome! Thanks!
I'm keeping a copy of this. I have a ton of stuff going on, so I won't be able to look at just now.

On that note, I'm working with Wizardfromoz in the Timeshift thread. I don't want to do much to this PC until I at least know how to "Restore" the system. I tried to install a VPN yesterday. I ran into problems and haven't figured out how to fix it on my own. This is a challenge that would good for an article. I'm learning a lot.

If I had this problem in Windows, I would know what to do. If I didn't, I can understand solutions I find on the internet. I know what key words to use, what they are talking about when they tell me where I need to go and what I need to do. I can "Speak Windows" if you will. When the solution requires something I don't know about, I have a good foundation. It doesn't take much effort to look up a word or explaination of what something is. Right now, my "Linux Speak" is about that of a kid just learning to talk. Just explaining my problem is can be a challenge.

I've installed a couple of things through the software manager. That takes less effort than anything I ever installed on Windows. But NordVPN isn't the repository. I have to use the command window. I can't download an executable file, click a few boxes, accept the toa and let it do it's thing. Not so in Linux.

Update, terminal. The command window looks the same... Just one example of my lack of Linux terminology.