Evening everyone. I am an instructor for the CompUSA corporation and as I saw the upcoming need for classes in the Linux OS I recently signed on for the PLUG site as well as the mailing list. I am one of millions of users that have been chained to M$ since 3.1. I had made arrangements to attend this latest Install Fest in order to begin my learning expedition into the GNU world when I read this latest thread of e-mails.
As an instructor for the last 8 years the single biggest complaint I get from new computer users is what I call, "The Computer Guy Syndrome", named after the skits of the same name on Saturday Night Live. They all have friends or coworkers that are around should a problem arise with their systems, but rather than actually helping the user they simply *zip* *zip* fix it and move on, leaving the user with no knowledge of how to circumvent or maybe even fix the problem on their own at a later date.
This is why I cancelled my original plans to attend Install Fest. While the intent is most admirable and necessary, without explaination and instruction nothing is retained. This has been the reason class environment training has been so successful. You have to put the student at the terminal with their own input and have them go through the steps with you.
I have purchased enough books on various versions of Linux to rebuild the Berlin Wall. Each of them flippantly omitting huge aspects of the required understanding of the OS that is needed to do anything more than survive within its walls. The Debian installation walk-through on the
www.linux.org site even state instructions like this, "Assign partitions to look like this." without explaining how. This is a dominant aura that is carried unfortunately by the Linux society. The mystique likened to the Freemasons. If you are in a position where you need to know how to install Linux, you probably should already know how is the ghist many people get.
As I am face to face with thousands of students each year and a rapidly growing number of them are inquiring about the Linux world I must ask, where do I send these people? I had hoped to offer courses to get them started yet even I am hitting obstacles that my years of computer background are not affording me passage to. To give instructions that state...
Ok type,
# mount /dev/hda3 /mnt/gentoo
# mkdir /mnt/gentoo/boot
# mount /dev/hda1 /mnt/gentoo/boot
and then not explaining what any of that means serves no purpose other than to further confuse an already scared new user. This is just an example from another supposed "walk-through". I guess I had always associated walk-through as it is used when purchasing a home, features and elements discussed at great length. These walk-throughs would be closer to, "Ok, keep your eyes closed and follow the sound of my voice while I get you through the house." Any suggestions for myself and my students?
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