[proposal] Newbie-FAQ or Everything You Always Wanted To AskAbout Ubuntu But Were Afraid To Ask

Fri Dec 24 00:35:19 UTC 2004

On Thu, 2004-12-23 at 18:22 -0500, Giovanni Sce wrote:
> Quoting "Lehofer, Meinhard" <nl at lehofer.net>:

<snip class="release-schedule" />

> > Which leads to the question: how do we proceed? We can not create the
> > newbie FAQ using the user-list alone without driving everybody not
> > involved mad.
> >
> >
> I think we can (we should) produce something useful in the next 3 months.
> Can we use the documentation-list?
> And maybe after starting a wiki section we'll mostly use just that.

Having something useful ready for Hoary should be absolutely possible.
It's a nice goal to work towards, and if everybody interested keeps
their interest it shouldn't have to be a hard job (timewise)

The ubuntu-doc seems like the right place. Maybe we should introduce the
people who ask the newbie-ish questions on the user-list to the
sounder-list. Getting their feedback would be the most valuable feedback
we'll receive, ever.

Starting out in a wiki also seems the right thing to do. I'm pretty much
busy the coming days, but feel free to start out in the wiki already. 

But maybe we should work in DocBook/Yelp. That way it can be installed
as a common gnome-help file, having the upside of being easily
accesible, even without web-access or a knowledge of where to find
documentation (the first thing I teach people when I'm giving a
linux-course)

Let's continue this discussion on ubuntu-doc...

Read down for my comments on the proposed index...

> 
> Gio
> 
> >
> >
> > Buffalo Soldier schrieb:
> >
> > >I know this newbie FAQ is going to be a lot of hardwork. And I don't
> > >want to be too "pushy" but here is what I think what can be included in
> > >the FAQ:
> > >
> > >1. Getting a Ubuntu CD
> > >	a. Downloading & Burning ("What is an ISO image file?")
> > >	b. Ordering from Canonical
> > >2. Pre-installation Preparations - Things You Can Do / Read About While
> > >Waiting for Download to Finish
> > >	a. What is Dual Boot? Should I Dual Boot?
> > >	b. Backing-up Data
> > >	c. Identifying Your Hardware (taking notes on type of mouse, monitor
> > >resolution, IP address and etc)
> > >	d. Defragmenting
> > >	e. What is A Partition (Basic)?
> > >	f. Resizing Partition
> > >	g. What is Boot Order & How To Change Boot Order? (booting from CD)
> > >3. Installing Ubuntu
> > >	a. Types of installation
> > >	b. Revisiting Partition (a bit more in-depth compared than the
> > >previous FAQ on partition)
> > >	c. GRUB, MBR, Dual Boot and etc.
 probably more on the lines of:

c. What is this grub, mbr etc... Should I care? (probably not) 
  (But we should provide some sane fallback-choices, just like the
installer does)

> > >	d. IP address, Gateway, DNS and etc.

What's all this? Why should I care/pay attention?

> > >	e. What is Root? Setting up user & password
> > >	f. Updating from the internet
> > >4. First time booting into Ubuntu
> > >	a. Familiarising with GNOME
> > >		I. Where is my Control Panel, My Computer and etc?
> > >		II. Controlling Menus and "Taskbar"
> > >		III. Theme
		    IVHow do I turn this thing off?
> > >	b. Software Installation
> > >		I. Apt-get & Synaptic
> > >		II. How to Handle Other Files (.bin or .gz)
> > >	c. Configuring Applications

I would rename this section:
c. How do I...
	1. send/receive mail
	2.open/create a word-document/spreadsheet/presentation
	3.chat with my buddies
	4.listen to music/watch movies
	5.use p2p-filesharing

> > >		I. Evolution - How to import inbox / how to setup POP
> > >		II. OpenOffice.org - How to open, save or convert MS Office files
> > >		III. GAIM - Setting up for MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger and etc.
> > >	d. Where's My "C:/Program Files?" / Intro to Linux filesystem
> > >	e. Who Is Sudo?
> > >	f. Loging out / Shutting down

this should probably be higher-up in the list.

> > >5. For those newbies who wants to learn more

pre. Where to find more documentation

> > >	a. Mounting
> > >		I. What is mounting?
> > >		II. How to mount NTFS drive, cd-drive, floppy?
> > >	b. Permission
> > >		I. What is permission?
> > >		II. How to change permission?
	III. A brief introduction to the octal-system/umasks and more of that
stuff
> > >	c. Safe Computing
> > >		I. What approriate permission to give
> > >		II. Danger of doing things in Root
	III. Why Ubuntu doesn't come standard with a personal-firewall and
howto get one if you want one
> > >	d. Intro to Command Line Interface
> > >		I. For those who are familliar with DOS Prompt (Linux equivalent for
> > >DIR, copy, delete and etc)
	I.5The joy of tab-completion or How I Stopped Making All Those Typos
> > >		II. Basic commands for the newbies
> > >6. Looking for help
> > >	a. List of Website, Forums, IRC channels, local Ubuntu Linux User
> > >Group
> > >	b. Forum & Chatting ethics
> > >	c. How to take Screenshot
> > >	d. List of Frequently use Terms & Phrases (Daemon, Module, Config
> > >File, Eth0, Runlevel

These terms should probably be linked to from the rest of docs,
-each-and-every-time-they-roar-their-ugly-head

Teachin new-users depends heavily on teaching them at least the most
common of the lingo. A lot of users will move on, they will become more
knowledgeable. Making sure they a firm grasp of the lingo/jargon will
make sure they don't look like fools when asking a question on a more
advanced list/forum/group. This will help them learn fster, and enjoy
their experience better. A lot of this can be achieved by telling them
where a term or word comes from, eg. ifconfig -> why not ipconfig? (hint
if stands for interface, there are a lot of network-cards/protocols that
don't use ip (just not so many today anymore)

> > >7. Hardware / Driver
> > >	Links to Hardware Compatibility List website

And ofcourse: Howto to buy hardware that will work with my linux box or
Why I Should Avoid WinModems and Other Proprietary Cr*p

> > >
> > >I was reading the post by  Lehofer, Meinhard. Thats where I get the
> > >idea for this newbie FAQ "content list". I hope I'm not asking too much
> > >or burdening  Wander Boessenkool or whoever is gonna do this.
> > >
> > >Anyway, it's just my personal opinion on what the FAQ should have or
> > >cover. Maybe I left out something... or maybe I listed too much.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> > --
> > ubuntu-users mailing list
> > ubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com
> > http://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-users
> >
> 
> 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: signature.asc
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 189 bytes
Desc: This is a digitally signed message part
URL: <https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-users/attachments/20041224/d7558ccc/attachment.sig>