newest of the newbies

[Ann Parsons]

Hi Rob,

Nice to meet you.  Your questions aren't bad at all, not at all.  This
is a pretty great bunch of folks on here, and we'll help you to get
started. 

>>>>> "Rob" == Rob  <robd1953 at mindspring.com> writes:

    Rob> Hello List, I'll try and keep this short and I suppose one
    Rob> person answering will do, don't expect a big ol' thread on my
    Rob> question.  Well it all started a couple Saturdays ago in my
    Rob> In box when I got a newsletter talking about, in part,
    Rob> investigating Linux and it gave a url.  I followed it and was
    Rob> very intrigued since I miss my old Unix Shell account that I
    Rob> started on the computer with a few years ago.  After doing
    Rob> some digging I found out about Speakup and the synthesizers
    Rob> it supports etc.  I will be buying a Doubletalk if I indeed
    Rob> pursue Linux as an alternate operating system.  

<smile>  Now, Rob, don't tell us how many of us can reply to your
questions.  You just might get a big "ol' thread" out of this.  Glad
to see that you are inquiring about linux.  You might try going to:

http://www.enabling.org/akp/linux.html

There you will find links to many of the programs and information
about Linux and the blind. One of the nice things you will discover is
that Linux has a lot of documentation.  If documentation is how you
learn, then Linux is for you.  You could drown in docs.  It's all
accessible too. 

    Rob>I guess my
    Rob> immediate questions are, I have a dsl connection, how hard
    Rob> will it be to configure so that I may use it.  

Not too difficult at all.  I'm not a techie, so can't answer specific
questions, but when I had DSL, Linux recognized the modem and had no
problem.  Thing is, you need a network card that will work in Linux.
Best place to go to see if your network card works is linuxdoc.org
There's a link there called howtos.  Under there you'll find something
called hardware, I think.  And under there, you'll find info on
network cards.  

    Rob> Also, does
    Rob> Linux have a built in Telnet client and IRC client like my
    Rob> old Unix shell used to?

<smiling>  Yes, Rob, Telnet, and FTP are built-in to the kernel.  You
have to enable them, but that isn't hard.  As for IRC, I think you
need to download something for that, but it should be easy enough to
find.  

    Rob>  How hard is it to find programs like
    Rob> Lynx and Pine?

Fer as I know, Lynx comes with most distributions of Linux.  Pine you
have to download off the net because it doesn't come in the distros
because it's not fully Open Source.  But that isn't a problem really
either, you just need some practical technical help from the folks on
here and boom!  You'll have your stuff loaded, and what's more, you
will be the sys-admin.  

    Rob>   I know this is an established list with
    Rob> people already well into the use of Linux and I hate to bog
    Rob> it down with a bunch of newbie questions, but I looked all
    Rob> over and could not find a "Linux for blind newbies" list or I
    Rob> would have gone there lol.  

Try sending an msg to:

blinux-newbie-request at braille.uwo.ca

In body of msg write subscribe. 

    Rob>  If anyone wants to email me
    Rob> directly you can mail to robd1953 at mindspring.com I just
    Rob> basically want to see how people feel about using this
    Rob> exciting alternative to the dreaded Windows. *grin*

Well, guys, now just how do you feel about Linux?  <grinning>  Sorry,
Rob, in joke, but the question is valid.  We feel great about Linux.
Before you ask, I like Debian because of its ease of use.  You'll get
a lot of responses from here.  Welcome!  Oh, and quit apologizing for
being a newbie!  We were all newbies once.  We don't mind newbies.  We
do mind folks who remain newbies forever.  

Ann P.
 


-- 
			Ann K. Parsons  
email:  akp at eznet.net 			ICQ Number:  33006854
WEB SITE:  http://home.eznet.net/~akp
"All that is gold does not glitter.  Not all those who wander are lost."  JRRT