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From: Robert Nordier <rnordier@iafrica.com>
Message-Id: <199605242131.XAA02320@eac.iafrica.com>
Subject: Re: editors, vi, documentation for newusers
To: ANDRSN@HOOVER.STANFORD.EDU (Annelise Anderson)
Date: Fri, 24 May 1996 23:31:40 +0200 (SAT)
Cc: freebsd-doc@freebsd.org, freebsd-chat@freebsd.org
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