--- In linux@yahoogroups.com, Steve Friis <wm5z@...> wrote:
> [...]
> That would be great for you geeks :-) Who have been using Linux
> for years. For some of us, this is a whole new world. Where do we
> begin? Even the names were changed to confuse us innocent. I wish I
> had a command of just the language you people use.

I understand your dilemma. The situation is similar for almost any
(new) hobby or field of technical endeavor, and is compounded by the
"alphabet soup" of acronyms and "in" words and phrases which have
different meanings depending on context. "Boot" is footwear, the
process of starting a computer, or even being RIF'd (Reduction In
(work)Force) in business. "Shell" is a command line interface, ammo,
what's found by the seashore, forking over money, or even a company.
Probably not the best examples, but I hope you get the picture. :-)

The following may prove helpful, found using "introduction to linux"
to Google:

<http://tldp.org/LDP/intro-linux/intro-linux.pdf>
<http://www.tldp.org/> [the Linux documentation project]
<http://www.linux.org/lessons/beginner/index.html>
<http://www.linux.com/articles/113155>

> I am what you would call a feeble desktop exploiter. I use Linux
> because I hate the way Windows treated me when I had to reload it
> and couldn't find the correct license. At the time, we had 5 Windows
> XP computers. Now we have none.

That's good (I think :-).

But that's a bummer. If you ever encounter that problem again, the
free "Belarc Advisor" <http://www.belarc.com/> retrieves product keys
and totally characterizes one's system(s).

> I am willing to put up with a lot, but there are a great many here
> who you guys scare off because you demand us to start with the
> correct terminology.
> If we already had the correct verbage in the correct sintax, we
> would have probably found the answer using Yahoo or Google search.

You'd be surprised how well Google does with a full sentence as a
question expressed in general terms. This example input to Google
"how do I create a root login on my Ubuntu system?" provided the real
answer as did this "how do I install Linux on my laptop?" and this
"how do I login to Linux if I forgot my password?" (without quotes).
One or two word searches are likely to prove frustrating with page
after page of irrelevant "hits".

But the real problem is that some people do absolutely no research,
barge into a group or forum, post a one or two liner question, and
expect everyone to stop what they're doing and help them exclusively.
They frequently provide no context (Linux distro and version or
anything describing the hardware they're using when relevant); such
questions will either be ignored and/or the poster will be flamed.

Just to give you an example of what I mean, it took about 30 seconds
to find the following real postings in Usenet's comp.os.linux.* groups
and several other Yahoo groups. Salutations and poster's signatures
have been removed, otherwise the postings are in their entirety via a
copy'n'paste:

" We are going to shift windows pc to linux. How i will migrate mails
" of MS-Outlook to evolution.

and

" how and where do delete the linux temporary files(like internet
" files)?

and

" Need a document on installation and configuration of SARG

and

" how to check when the O/S users (other than default) have been
" created in Linux server. how to check when the Linux o/s is
" installed.

and

" i want to configure mysql n php in rhel 5 so plz help me. give me
" some links to study for mysql and php

There are 1000s of such postings. Do you see a trend? Seldom is the
distro mentioned. "Please" is rare, "Give me" or "gimme" is common.
"Texting"-style writing is common (and an instant turn-off for many).

Often the answers could have been found simply by entering the name
of the relevant program to Google. Look at the "SARG" example above;
simply typing "SARG" or "SARG documentation" to Google would have
provided the poster with the info s/he wanted. Needless to say, that
question was never answered in the forum where I found it.

I think it's safe to say most people are tolerant of typos and the
like, and if anyone makes an effort to explain their problem, even in
simple words, answers will be forthcoming. It's a lot easier today
with the Internet and forums such as this. When I started using
computers back in the early 1960s, I literally had to do "dumpster
diving" to get program listings to teach myself assembly language and
Fortran programming from the examples I found.