Help for Linux newbies

You got here because you are newcomer to Linux and we would like to welcome you to the great community, and give you some pointers about how to make the most of your participation.

Linux people are always keen to help others learn to use Open Source software. That's how most of us learned to use Linux, and we are bound to contribute back to the community. There are hundreds of forums and mailing lists on the web, with hundreads of thousands of contributors, *someone* is going to be able to help with almost any Open Source related problem you encounter and will *make* the time to help you, *gratis*. As you gain experience and confidence you too will find yourself contributing time and effort to help newbies... just you wait and see!

Here are some basic pointers for getting good results from your search for answers:

Forums:

When you ask Linux people for help you should *always* state the following:

• 1) What spec of computer you are using (RAM and processor speed)
• 2) What Linux Distribution you are using
• 3) What application is causing the problem
• 4) What you have done to try and resolve the problem yourself, and any clues like error messages or unexpected behaviour you have seen.
• 5) Give an idea of your experience level, there are usually many solutions to all problems, the right one to choose is often related to your technical ability.

Other stuff to bear in mind when posting:

• Be polite, and concise. Spend 10 minutes on documenting your question clearly and simply and someone may be able to answer it in one post. Careful not to babble, or ask too many questions at a time, geeks dont have time to read waffle.
• Whether a forum is able to help with your query or not, when you find your answer, always post it in response to your own post. Others searching on the same problem will find you mail and then you have made a contribution, no matter how small.

Search Engines:

Search Engines like google hoover up the contents of forums, websites, how-to's, mailing list archives and blogs everywhere on the internet using "bots". Their software will index the data the bots find against keywords using special algorithms designed to expose good results to you search terms. Look in the "Advanced Search" option on any search engine and learn how to fine-tune your results to get exactly what you need.

More power to the newbies. The Penguin Wants You!

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