Support!

Who gives support in Linux in case of problems?. Who can you approach for help? - these are some of the questions that every newbie ask .Well if you Buy! a Microsoft product,you get support from them.But that is not the case with Linux(Support for some commercial versions of Linux is now available)
Linux is basically the outcome of a community effort,a project of a loosely knit community-so help also comes Decentralized! .Somewhere before i told you about ethics and values ,Yes once you are in the community you will feel it and will surely appreciate what i have told.So here are some tips to get help in Linux (REmember ,this is the fastest and extensive help than any ISV(independant s/w vendor) can provide you .
Goto google.com/linux and type in your question in the box .Something like my " 56E samsung monitor doesn't work" and see for yourselves the most comprehensive help system for any OS(thanks to the Linux community)
Now i personally urge you newbies to use another decentralized and superb help system-one that uses the working brains of a highly talented and helpul volunteers of the Linux community -The LUG (Linux User Group) .With meetings,discussions,events,mailing lists.... they have spread the word of Linux.So grab your search engine and locate the nearest LUG(hello->the internet is beyond geographic limitations),so join any or MANY! LUG's in the world -post any query,doubts etcand see for yourselves.The Linux Commmunity guarentees you 100.00% customer satisfaction.

Modems!

Today connecting to the Internet is one of the primary use of computers,and the most cost effective way to do so is using a dial up connection and a modem
I previously had an internal modem(infamous in the Linux world as WinModems) .I had a pretty hard adventure with it trying to get it working in Linux and after a long fight i gave up(version conflict,bugs,dialing problems!!!).Now i have made a small investment in an external modem(Hardware Modem).and i surf the web using my linux box.If you havent brouht a modem yet buy an external one(worth it!) and for the desolate ones who already owns an internal modem,you will get relevant info and help from this sitelinmodems.org

My first Installation

My first installation of Linuxwas a Mandrake Distro.Although the installation completly wiped out my harddisk(newbies fall down many times before they learn to walk!),I think i got a graphical login.
Months later I came across a book-'The RedHat Linux Bible"(by Christopher Negus)-My next adventure was to own a Bible! myself(It still remains one of my proud posession).Today I have come across a number of books on Linux,but i still find the bible the best.Another book worth mentioning is -"The Unix System Administrators Handbook"-(they have now released the "Linux System Administrators Handbook"-which is in the top of the list of things that i plan to buy).People who have read those books will find this nontechnical form of presenting a technical matter highly borrowed from these books.and special courtesy for this 'blog style' to a 15 year old jewish girl Anne Frank(Anne Frank-the diary of a young girl) who was killed in one of the most cruelsome act to humanity(hats off to Anne!).
With the book i got the CD's of Linux.On the day i brought the book i succeded in installing RedHat Linux 8.0 (redhat)on my PC (this time without any loss!).I had graphics but no sound.
The non-availability of sound was a boon,My next adventure was to get my Linux box to sing....And one fine day it did.On the sea of Linux like a pirate I set forth in search of gold and finally I got my treasure(like the pirates of yore i always carried the Bible! with meand had my prayers daily).I learnt many things about the working of Linux and the OSS
and ALSA
Then it was the display.Although my display using a 'generic vesa' driver did well the movies and 2D games,the TUX racer game was running awkwardly.After a long search I found out how hard the open source community is strrugling to develop drivers inspite of non-cooperation from many quarters.They have finally done a great thing ,today almost all graphic processors and monitors are detected and configured in Linux(X11 to be specific)and for the 3D part-in order to use OpenGL hardware acceleration -your display card must have a chip specific driver .Active development is going in the DRI project and binary closed source drivers of many chipsets are available at the chipmakers website.
nvidia
ati
intel
If you are a gaming enthusiast ,well today you have many of the high end 3d games ported to Linux and necessary hardwares and drivers available.

My Crush with TUX

---Linux in this blog must be read GNU/Linux-------

Links
GNU homepage
The Linux Kernel
Sourceforge
Debian Linux
International Open Source network

I was born a 'newbie' as everyone else into the world of linux:- First I took the important decesion in my life to graduate in Computer Science,
so the world requires me to do something in computers(my job).
Although simple programming first fascinated me,as programmes got complicated
i unknowingly developed an aversion to programmes!;For a moment i even thought
i had made the worst decesion in my career.
But then I saw a happy Flightless Bird....,The TUX,my first crush with tux was
in a cool 'bluescreen' ,I had only seen windows(TM) till then ,The blue screen
was a GNU/Linux installation,something which i had seen a number of times since then.And do you know why I call myself a Linux fan?
Because even today I watch a Linux installation with the same curiosity as i had on my first crush..........

I liked the concepts behind Linux,as I was , and will ever be a FREEDOM lover
and I had the opinion that Knowledge belongs to the Society (SOCIALISM!) and is a gift that grows by sharing.........And I loved System Administration; a critical web server in your command ! ....cool isn't it.So my relationship with TUX grew to such a point that I now plan to become a Linux EXpert
(remember the ad punchline:"a successful person is one who finds out where he is good at,and hire experts for all other things).

The world of Linux FLOSS(Free Libre Open Source System) is based on ethics and values ,the primary of which is help others and so I,Anoop P Alias who is now a Linux 'miniExpert' has created this blog to list my experiences with Linux,so that it is of some use to any Linux 'newbies'