[ubuntu-za] How to help

[Johan Mynhardt]

On 12/01/2010 07:01, Juan Koegelenberg wrote:
> Hi guys
>
> I would realy like to help, but don't know where to start. Everyone
> knows I am a newbie, a egar one. I get in the way sometimes so I guess
> its better for me to take order's at this stage of the game. I don't
> have many skills, but hope to change that in Feb when I go study Linux.
> You guys use many words and sayings that I dont understand. I am a
> better hands on guy that theoretical dude. What I am trying to say is
> that if you give me something to do I will give it my best shot. O ja
> and tell me what software to use to please.
> Thax
> Juan
>

Hi Juan,

Well, I think for one you don't *need* to study Linux to become a good 
user, just fiddle around, break something here, fix it again, like that. 
Practice makes perfect. Reading up on the history will help a lot, but 
that's just for interest sake.

It might not be the year of the desktop, but at least you can play 
around. Get to read stuff about the terminal, you don't need to become a 
terminal wizz, but it helps when you know the basics like cd, ls, mv, 
sudo etc. You can see what commands is available by using the 
tab-completion feature. Start with a and work your way through. For 
example, type "a" then press [tab] twice:

//-------------------------------
johan at johanm-thumb:~$ a
Display all 101 possibilities? (y or n)
//-------------------------------

upon y/yes the list expands:

//-------------------------------
johan at johanm-thumb:~$ a
Display all 101 possibilities? (y or n)
a2dismod                      abrowser                      alacarte 
                   aplaymidi                     apt-config 
        aqhbci-tool4                  at
a2dissite                     abrowser-3.5
...
...
apturl-gtk                    aspell-autobuildhash
ab                            adduser                       aplay 
                   apt-cdrom                     aqbanking-cli 
        aspell-import
johan at johanm-thumb:~$ a
//-------------------------------

To get help about a command, use the, well, man command.

//-------------------------------
johan at johanm-thumb:~$ man apt
 
 
 
        apt(1)

NAME
        apt - annotation processing tool

SYNOPSIS
        apt [-classpath classpath] [-sourcepath sourcepath] [-d 
directory] [-s directory] [-factorypath path] [-factory class] [-print] 
[-nocompile] [-Akey[=val] ...] [javac option] sourcefiles [@files]

PARAMETERS
        Options may be in any order. For a discussion of parameters 
which apply to a specific option, see OPTIONS below.

           sourcefiles
              Zero or more source files to be processed.
//-------------------------------

Now, you can google for "vi commands" to learn some basic commands which 
you will encounter in man pages too. ":/" for search, ":q" for quit, 
"j,k" for up and down, etc. It will become quite useful.

You can also add to your list learning the basics of at least one text 
editor (terminal based) like vi, emacs or nano. you will find references 
to vi and emacs a lot!

So, this is just a little todo-starter to send you in the right 
direction. The others in the list may add some other ideas, so don't 
take this as a rule.

Kind Regards
Johan

-- 
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