What is a newbie? (Was Re: Assistance for newbies?)

Geoffrey Leach geoff at direcway.com
Wed Jul 7 21:06:33 UTC 2004


On 07.07 13:09, David Maier wrote:

> Although I've been dabbling with Linux for a couple of years, I  
> consider myself  a newbie.  So perhaps my experience, and current  
> profound frustrations, will help you figure out what will work for  
> people like me.  I don't mind reading HOWTO's, FAQ's, manuals and  
> lists.  I spend a huge amount of time doing that.  Part of my problem  
> is that, at the same time I'm learning about Linux, I'm also learning  
> about packet sniffing, DNS, TCP, Windows Networking, etc.  It's  
> impossible, I'm finding, to do anything with Linux without being  
> deeply knowledgeable about all things networking and TCP/IP.

David,

Your post makes some good points, but I have to disagree with you about  
how you've characterized yourself, so I've started a new thread so as  
not to hijack the old.

If anything that you try to do with Linux involves being deeply  
knowledgeable about all things networking and TCP/IP, then either  
you've gotten way off track or you're no longer a newbie.  (Sorry 'bout  
that!)  I've been running Linux for years, and I barely know what TCP/ 
IP means.

My question to the list is this: When is a newbie no longer a newbie?   
That's not irrelevant, for if we were to construct a monthly posting  
for newbies, we'd need a model of the target audience.

Regards.





More information about the users mailing list