Bryan - Thank you for the suggestions for books. They really sound like the orientation I would enjoy. Concerning my first computer, it was a MDS-800 by Intel used for programing the 8080 for process control. They used a subset of PL/M (subset G). This was in the 1970's. Todd Bryan J. Smith wrote: >Todd Cary <todd at aristesoftware.com> wrote: > > >>Agreed! For me there is a distinction between >>"understanding" and "knowing". My 30 years experience >>has been in the Windows environment >> >> > >I think the first instance of MS Basic was the Altair of >1976. >I assume you mean your experience has been on the single-user >environments of the 8080 on-ward, yes? ;-> > > > >>and in comparison, Linux is much easier to understand. >> >> > >Once you learn UNIX terminology, it's good 4ever! >With Windows terminology, you retrain every 5+ years. > > > >>The challenge is knowing where to look or knowing which >>function and switch to use. >> >> > >If Roblimo's new book is any indication, users want a book >that is ~300 pages and teaches them how to _use_ Linux -- >especially with the mass corporate adoption taking place. > > > >>I often use the term "spiral learning"; that is one starts >>with a task to do. Rather than having to commit reems of >>information to memory to achieve a simple task, it is >>easier to accomplish the task by looking up what is >>wanted. Then one can expand (spiral outward) his >>knowledge. >> >> > >Most people are like this, task-oriented. The "Samba 3 by >Example" book has been outstanding in this regard. But there >is still the "Samba 3 HOWTO Collection" for those that want >more of a "manual." > > > >>Now I have many friends who prefer to read manuals from >>cover to cover (and they remember most of it). Of course, >>my dyslexia creates it's own hurdle and bias. >> >> > >I want to write 2 immediately: > - Linux for Users > - Linux Configuration Management > >The first would be a 300 page book on just using Linux. From >the CLI basics (but modernized for Linux) to GNOME and KDE >(possibly an appendix on XFCE). Designed for Fedora Core and >RHEL (including CentOS). I believe this is sorely needed for >corporate users, even more so than end-users. > >The second would be a 500 page book on handling the roll-out >and maintanence of a Linux network. Once again, it would be >for Fedora Core and RHEL (including CentOS). I believe this >is also sorely needed for corporate system and network >administrators. > >There are countless books on Linux that are too UNIX-like in >viewpoint, thinking that the user is also a sysadmin because, >let's face it, that's largely who has used UNIX for so long. >With Linux, there are more user aspects -- from office suites >to removable devices (CD/DVDs, dongles, etc...) that are >commonly used. > >More on the other flip, I've come in after many open source >projects have failed or are in the middle of failure because >of lack of configuration management. It's just like the same >problem NASA had -- just because you use COTS >(commercial-off-the-shelf) components that save you 90% >doesn't mean you can cut QA (quality assurance) as well. >Same deal with Linux, you can save 90% of system costs, but >you aren't going to save 90% on configuration management -- >especially when there are a *DARTH* of books that cover it >for Linux. > > > > -- Ariste Software 200 D Street Ext Petaluma, CA 94952 (707) 773-4523 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.centos.org/pipermail/centos/attachments/20050816/11bc04d4/attachment-0005.html>