Greetings folks, As a newcomer to Debian I, like many since I've joined this list, ask typical newbie questions about the some basic things. If we take a step back and look at the big picture there is a basic group of things new users want to get accomplished. For example most users want to send mail to other people. While we could say to them "go RTFM!" that is hardly what they are asking for. If they did take that RTFM advice...how many of them do you think would stay around? Not a lot likely. HOWTO's, README's, etc are fine and dandy and very informative once you have a base knowledge under your belt and you can appreciate what they are. But for someone that is "brand new" it is just overwhelming. What I'm getting around to saying is how can we, the Debian community, set up some newbie FAQ's that are tailored specifically at the very new person trying out linux and doesn't want "every switch" explained in detail. Most people, if I am not mistaken, want easy to understand documentation that gets them up and running fast with concrete examples of the cmd in action for a variety of "most used" scenarios. Take the following topics:
email, ssh, http, sound, xwindows, security, word processors, tar Each one of those topics probably has a handful of "how do I" associated with it that a very new user would "typically" ask to this list. First off I'd like to ask if someone has already gathered a FAQ like this for Debian. If not, I'd like to volunteer my time in creating (when I have the knowledge) parts of the FAQ. Some basic questions come up though and these I throw out to you, the Debian community: 1. Who would house/display the FAQ so it is always available. 2. Who can contribute and how? 3. Who does quality control checks? 4. How do you submit an article to be included? 5. What would be a successful structure/format? 6. Would the Debian main page hold a link to this if it's done well and tailored toward Debian? Again, I'd like to be part of this and am willing do devote some of my time to getting easy to understand documentation out to newbies...of which I still consider myself a member. I have several other newbie friends that I provide tech support to on linux and most of the time I end up referring them to a spot on my home website that I have documented how I was able to get things working for myself. If your interested in this project or have suggestions please feel free to contact me on the list here or privately at [EMAIL PROTECTED] It would be a shame to let all the talent that people on this list have stored in their heads go to waste by being burned out by constant repeats of the same question. Regards, Bill Jensen
