From owner-freebsd-questions Wed Aug 11 10:47:35 1999 Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mcfeely.interaccess.com (mcfeely.interaccess.com [207.208.133.3]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 3084614D77 for ; Wed, 11 Aug 1999 10:47:30 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from fordp@guide.chi.il.us) Received: from prefect (d9.focal5.interaccess.com [207.208.188.9]) by mcfeely.interaccess.com (8.9.0/8.9.0) with SMTP id MAA08922; Wed, 11 Aug 1999 12:46:47 -0500 (CDT) Message-Id: <3.0.3.32.19990811124401.00e1ed44@pop.interaccess.com> X-Sender: fordp@pop.interaccess.com X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Pro Version 3.0.3 (32) Date: Wed, 11 Aug 1999 12:44:01 -0500 To: Roy Bettle From: Ford Prefect Subject: Re: Idiot seeks brain. Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org In-Reply-To: <37B1B029.51C09A83@criterion-group.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Sender: owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.ORG The book you mention I bleieve is actually called "UNIX System Administration Handbook" (some times called the big red book or the like), I found this book to be truly useful when I first started out, and I still occaisonally refernce it. It's not without its fault though The edition I have (second) does not have a FreeBSD section, so you have to figure out some stuff on your own. IE: the file you will be editing the most /etc/rc.conf which wasn't in the book. However between This book, the /use/share/doc/handbook, /usr/share/doc/FAQ and this list you can learn just about everything you need. None of these resources are good for the basics however. If you haven't any UNIX experience you might want to get one of the O'riely books like UNIX in a nutshell. however if you know the basics you proably won't need one. The handbook and FAQ are far better for FreeBSD than the big red book because they are specifically targeted at FreeBSD. they can both be found on the www.freebsd.org sight if you don't have access to a FreeBSD machine and don't want to install just yet. freebsd-questions is a great place if you get stuck, there is also a freebsd-newbies list that may help you. As to understanding the "backgroud/culture/norms" of our "community" I can't help much, just reading this list and letting it absorb is the best advice I can offer. Oh and since you posted to the freebsd-questions you're probably not an idiot. Some references: www.freebsd.org www.freebsdmall.com www.freebsdrocks.com UNIX System Administration Handbook Nemeth, Snyder, Seebass & Hein ISBN: 0-13-151051-7 At 10:17 AM 8/11/99 -0700, you wrote: >Damn ... > >I've read just about every message that's gone through for the past 3 >weeks or so (since I joined the list), and basically I wish I could >borrow one of your brains for just a little bit while I figure out how >to back-up/restore your UNIX/*BSD experience into my poor, >Micro$haft-muddled brain. > >Where do I go to start *at the beginning*? I need to better understand >the background/culture/norms of the *BSD community. I see these notes >going back and forth discussing "motif" and "ssh" and "tsk" and other >similar (programs?) and I feel like a blind man in a room full of >expensive, breakable objects that everyone else can see and understand. > >Hey, I'm a pretty smart guy (taught myself how to configure a Cisco >4000-series router; 3 interfaces) ... who's feeling REALLY dumb. Please >help me out. > >I'm pretty thorough too; read through about 10% of the ports list so far >(freebsd.org/ports). > >Is the book "The UNIX Administrator's Handbook" (did I get the title >right?) what I'm looking for? Is there somewhere on the Web that I can >go to? > >Thanks in advance for your help. > >RAB > > >Attachment Converted: "c:\Program Files\Internet\Mailboxes\ewfordp\Attach\rbettle36.vcf" > *=====================================================* \ Ford Prefect Ahead of my time. \ \ fordp@guide.chi.il.us but only by a week. \ \ homepage.interaccess.com/~fordp \ \ \ \ ((In esperanto where available)) \ *=====================================================* To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message