Thus spake Joe Brandt on the 29 day of the 01 month in the year 2003:
> I have tried learning by reading. Not only Linux but other
> correspondence courses as well and it does not work for me. I learn
> best in an instructor led course. Books can not tell by the look on
> your face that you just don't get it. Books can rarely answer the
> questions that I ask. And most importantly (especially in Linux) books
> are not written so that a newbie can understand it. You would not
> believe how long it took me to figure out the ./ before a command.
> Books and Linux geeks take that for granted but a Windows and or DOS
> trained user would not even consider it.
I'm sorry to hear your experience with Linux documentation has been less
than rewarding. Admittedly, most of it isn't geared toward newbies, but
I don't think it's /that/ complicated. It sounds to me like you didn't
start with the right book(s).
Personally, I'd suggest "Think Unix" by Jon Lassar. "But I want a book
about Linux!", you say? While Linux technically isn't Unix, from a user
perspective it may as well be. In fact, the reference system used in
the book is a Redhat box.
This book is geared to people who are reasonably knowledgeable about
computers, but don't know anting about Unix/Linux. The /best/ aspect
about this book is that it doesn't simply give you answers. It teaches
you the "Unix Philosophy" to the point that figuring out a right
answer becomes trivial/easier.
A brief flip through my copy of Think Unix seems to indicate that your
"./" question was mostly answered by page 38. You'd have to have been
paying attention 'till page 38 to figure the answer out, but were you,
it would be mostly obvious at that point.
Don't be fooled by the fact that this book is now almost 3 years old and
it's page count is only 290. It's hardly out of date (it could have
been written 10 years ago) and it contains the info of about 2 or 3
"Dummies" books twice it's size. Read it cover to cover and Linux won't
be as daunting any longer.
There are other good intro books out there, but AFAIK, none really cover
the Unix Philosophy like Think Unix does.
-- Matthew MoenOutlook is as attractive to email viruses as a heap of dead and rotting cows is to a fly. So long as that maggot-filled pile of corpses is there, swatting at the flies isn't going to work. Alan Bellingham, SDM
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