Date: Fri, 24 May 1996 23:31:40 +0200 (SAT) From: Robert Nordier <rnordier@iafrica.com> To: ANDRSN@HOOVER.STANFORD.EDU (Annelise Anderson) Cc: freebsd-doc@freebsd.org, freebsd-chat@freebsd.org Subject: Re: editors, vi, documentation for newusers Message-ID: <199605242131.XAA02320@eac.iafrica.com> In-Reply-To: <01I51YO5Y39U006OBL@HOOVER.STANFORD.EDU> from "Annelise Anderson" at May 23, 96 06:14:52 pm
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Annelise Anderson wrote: > > Given the discussion that has been going on here about vi and making > things easier for new users, you might be interested in a guide I > wrote for people new to both freebsd *and* unix. > > John Fieber has been working on integrating this into the handbook > and I have asked him not include it in the sections on "unix basics" > because it is not that, nor do I have the capability to contribute > to that; it is rather a guide on a few essential tasks and some > suggestions on navigation and sources of information that will help > new users get acquainted with the system faster. It is also not a > guide on how to configure the system in any way. > > I have sent it to a few people who have indicated that they know > little unix and they seem to have found it helpful (including the > section on vi). It also includes a simple description of getting > ports from the cdrom. In all areas it could be expanded, but the > point is to give people enough to get along, not everything at once. > > John and I agree that the section on the ls commands should use > standard unix commands and not the aliases, which is the only > major change I think we are contemplating. > > My only qualification for writing this is the insight of a user > new to both freebsd and unix not very long ago, which is about all > I have to offer right now. > > Here it is (18k). > > [...] This seems a good, useful piece of documentation. I just gave a copy to someone who has recently made the transition from another OS. And he came back with a couple of "Gosh, I didn't know BSD could do that" responses. (Using ScrollLock to recover what has scrolled off the screen, along with script(1), particularly impressed him.) On the whole, it almost seems a pity that this piece is going to be worked into the handbook. For beginners, the handbook is indispensable as a reference, but mostly it isn't really light reading. Maybe a few short pieces like this, kept separate somewhere in /usr/share/doc, would make a friendly intro for new users. -- Robert Nordier
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