Re: Redhat Tutorial?

[Alan Mead <adm ipat com>]

At 03:11 PM 4/19/99 -0500, you wrote:

>You know, one of the main problem with those Linux books, and I have
>them all :-) (RHLinux 5.2 Unleashed, 3rd edition, keyed to 5.2 etc.) is
>that they include so much stuff that is no longer necessary and that
>would be of use only to Linux experts. Many of those programs, such as
>ftp, mail, news, text editors, etc. hve been superseded by Netscape for
>Linux, WordPerfect or StarOffice for Linux, etc., RealPlayer for Linux.
>So who needs them. There should be two completely different kinds of
>books on Linux: one for computers specialists and one for consumers who
>want Linux but for whom Linux or the computer itself is not an end in
>itself.

The "expert stuff" you mentioned are standard system administration tools
that you really need; they are not superceded by anything.  For example,
you don't want to be modifying configuration files with WordPerfect.  I
know people who did that in DOS too and sure it usually works but you save
/etc/passwd as a document once and maybe your whole system is unusable.

I think Red Hat and other easy-install-Linuxes will get you most of the way
to being able to ignore the OS.  For example, you get a working system
right out of the door.  And the systems don't require much administration
(it doesn't hurt to tighten security right away).  But you will need to
learn a few system administration things and one of them is definitely vi
(you won't find WP on a rescue disk!).
---
Alan D. Mead  /  Research Scientist  /  adm ipat com
Institute for Personality and Ability Testing
1801 Woodfield Dr  /  Savoy IL 61874 USA
217-352-4739 (v)  /  217-352-9674 (f)