On Mon, Dec 16, 2002 at 01:09:28AM +0800, optimus wrote: > On Friday 13 December 2002 11:50 pm, Paolo Falcone wrote: > > > Ease of use and reclaiming more time for more productive work is what I > > think is a big factor (consider replicating this to a lot of machines). > > Yup. Some people have the luxury of time burying themselves inside their rooms > with a computer. Some of us have a life and relationships to maintain. A > package manager that saves time for other more noble pursuits in life is > indeed a good tool to use. To each his own tools and goals.
Right. But for those who are interested in learning how a Linux system actually does work, who want to know the nitty gritty (as any good system administrator should), they ought to start with a distro that goes down to the bare metal. Ideal would be Linux from Scratch, but I think Slackware would be almost as good to start with. I'm an electronics/computer engineer by training, and they taught us starting at the lowest level, of electrons and charges in electromagnetic fields, before we went on to integrated circuits, logic, and up to microprocessor interfacing. The same should be true of anyone who wants to be a serious Linux administrator. Start with the basics first, then try out the contrivances that save you time, but only after you UNDERSTAND HOW THEY REALLY WORK. So you'll know what to do when (*not* if) it fails. That's the trouble with the computer industry in general. Far too much knowledge disappears into code we can't understand. It's far, far worse in the Microsoft world, I imagine. We people in the Linux world shouldn't fall into the same trap. Sure, use nice tools like RPM or whatever package management system you've got. But don't use it without thinking. Know as much as you can about the tools you use to do the job. At least then you'll be confident in knowing what to do when things break and you can no longer depend on your tools. -- Rafael R. Sevilla <dido at imperium dot ph> +63(2)8123151 Software Developer, Imperium Technology Inc. +63(917)4458925 _ Philippine Linux Users Group. Web site and archives at http://plug.linux.org.ph To leave: send "unsubscribe" in the body to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Fully Searchable Archives With Friendly Web Interface at http://marc.free.net.ph To subscribe to the Linux Newbies' List: send "subscribe" in the body to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
