User:Tfield98
From Grokdoc
Contents |
User:Tfield98
My log
Subject description:
I've been programming for more than 3 decades. Mostly in Delphi the past two. I've hacked the USCD P-machine and P-code, programmed in assembly language, and build lots of Windows boxes. I'm somewhat motivated to start playing with Linux... and occassionally get fantastically excited when I realize that I can actually modify, play with and compile my own real OS with Linux. I don't know how much time I'll spend on this project. I probably don't have the time and commitment to do the study and exploring to be a sysadmin let alone someone who hacks the system.
Getting Linux running
But, FIRST, I've got to get Linux running.
1. First site to download Knoppix (Purdue) failed to connect. Hmmm… I wonder if Grokdoc’s launch has had a Slashdot effect on Purdue.
2. Oh, an ftp site appears with lots of files. I don’t know which file to download. I’ll try the http link at another location.
3. Second. Http link was broken. Gee, I’m 0 for 3 tries in finding a Koppix download…
4. Hit the back key on the download agreement and ended up at a site in German. Damn… seems like I’m not having much luck.
5. I’ll try another site, Florida this time. I’ll read the English FAQ here.
Oh, I’ll have to remember how to get to my BIOS at boot time so I can set it to boot from the CD drive. Is that F8, or DEL…
6. Hmmm… a read me in German. Maybe Knoppix isn’t the right distro for me, I don’t want to keep running into helpful info that I can’t read…
7. Oh, here’s a how to burn FAQ. Oops, it’s in german too. Why would PJ suggest that Knoppix was good? Maybe I ought to go back and re-read the Grokdoc site about distros…
8. Ooops, I closed IE when coming to type this log. Do I really want to bother with this project. Maybe I’m not bright enough (although I played with Minux (?) on an 8086 CP/M machine 19 years ago and program for a living), or not committed enough to overcome the speed bumps.
9. Ok, just read the Knoppix site’s description. Sounds safe to me to boot a CD. I wish I had another HD I could throw on my laptop so I could really play! I’ll click the big button labeled download. Maybe this is a little more polished than the path I took?
10. Oh shoot, that took me to the same broken Florida link I hit early on…
11. Reading some other FAQ I realize that I’m going to have to burn a bootable CD… one more hurtle…
12. Ok, I’ll just grab the –EN files (I’m English after all) and see what happens… (Maybe I should see if RedHat has a free, downloadable version… oops, probably not CD friendly like Knoppix?)
13. Hmmm… I’ve never seen a progress meter that reads “34 days, 20 hours to completion” like the one I’m seeing now…
14. Great, down to a meager 5 days now…
15. You know, I don’t have time for this… my boss is going to wonder what I’ve been doing. Maybe some other time…
16. Installing Redhat on my son’s computer (it lasted a day… ) seemed easy. Maybe I’ll go out and find a Redhat distro.
17. I guess I’ll have to go to some of the wonderful newbie documentation projects that PJ mentions someday… because this certainly was a failure.
My conclusion: only the earliest adopters install Linux. I'm not one of them. However, there are probably many, many techies out there like me who given an easy path, would give it a try. Clearly the right entry point is NOT starting at Grokdoc ... but of course, the site is not intended to be a tutorial.
I'm not sure I'm willing to devote the time to this project that it may require... but maybe I'll be back.
Two days later: Having posted several contrarian opinions on GrokLaw, I seem to have become a suspected troller. Partly to clear my reputation, and partly because I really want to, I'm back at trying to contribute to the community by participating in Grokdoc and bringing up Linux with a log...
Examining the webmaster's sig at the bottom of the GrokDoc site, I went to Linux questions site and found a thread ([http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/showthread.php?s=
