“In the process of learning Linux, you are occasionally
thrust into the position of needing to know how to do
something right this minute. You haven’t the luxury of
time to read documentation, poke about man pages, and find out
a way of hacking together a solution to a very real problem that
exists right this moment. … A ready, solid working knowledge of
the operating system and its structure is a required
element to getting things done.”
“Unix programs… typically require at least a token effort at
configuring them properly, customising them for your particular
situation. This makes them, in general, a good deal more powerful
and robust, but it doesn’t help the poor person crunched for time,
setting up a Web server at the last moment. … The general
attitude toward this problem is “tough beans.” If you haven’t got
the skills to set something up from experience in the past, or if
you haven’t got someone with those skills to do it for you, use
something else. … The basic skill set required is large, but once
that first hill is overcome, the sheer power of the Unix
architecture pays off rewards orders of magnitude greater than the
original effort expended learning it.”
“The situation, however, is not entirely hopeless. Linux has a
very large, very powerful support network in place. A hundred
different potential sources for help exist: documentation, users,
companies, FAQs, IRC — provided you know where to look and what to
ask. All these things exist to get past the initial learning curve,
to get things set up now, and set up as quickly and smoothly as
possible, and set up correctly. All that is required is patience,
an ability to comprehend, and the will to experiment and generalise
ideas.”