Fw: [clug] beginners path

jm jeffm at ghostgun.com
Sat Apr 25 00:44:04 GMT 2009


This raises an interesting thought:

Would anyone be will to give an introductory talk on how useful Linux is 
in getting everyday tasks done, aimed at the beginners level, at the end 
of which distro CDs are handed out with the contact details, meeting 
times and locations of a beginners group to help them with the install 
process? This would be a good event prior to holding on install feast it 
raise awareness of Linux and counter any negative image which the 
audience may hold.

Another thought unrelated to the first: There quite a few schools around 
town which are "teaching computer skill" to primary age children. The 
trouble is from what little I've seen, what a friend's son is learning, 
it consists of indoctrination in M$ Word and associated products. As you 
can image there's quite a few problems with this even if you ignore this 
philosophical implications. I'll leave this thought at this point to 
avoid needless ranting about bias, short sightedness, creating future M$ 
customers at govt expense, costs to parents,  etc :-).

Jeff.

Ian Bardsley wrote:
> G'Day David
>
> I well understand your frustration with regard to typing commands into 
> a terminal to solve a problem without having the remotest idea what 
> those commands are doing. However, rest assured, that understanding 
> comes over time.. In my experience of the Linux learning curve, 
> everything you read adds a snippet to your understanding of what 
> various commands are doing and persistence with Forums, the manual and 
> magazine articles etc will develop your confidence to explore the 
> functionality of this operating system.
> On many occasions I have made use of the collective wisdom that is 
> CLUG in situations where I had been unable to gain understanding of an 
> issue standing in the way of my progress from other sources and I 
> believe that is the role of a user group.  There really isn't a formal 
> education path available to layman PC users wanting to use Linux but 
> there are a million experienced users out there in the http land who 
> are more than happy to share their knowledge.  You can always ask them 
> for an explanation of the solution they may have provided to a problem.
>


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