Starting off - some tips

Hi all!!!

Now that internals are over, I guess that most of us are free (free is 
as having time to kill - me excluded), here are some tips to get going.

1. Stick to the command line interface. I have seen quite a few of you 
using the GUII for configuration. This is not bad idea because GUIs are 
meant to be used. But remember that the GUI hides the actual 
functioning of the system from you. If you use the GUI for 
configuration, please do it only as a means of *testing* the *GUI*;  
after all, the end user will be using the GUI for most of his work.

2. Remember, there are more than one way of doing things; for example, 
you can install fonts simply by putting the font file in the 
$HOME/.fonts directory. You can also add fonts by putting the directory 
containing the font file in the XFree configuration file. In both 
cases, you need to run ttmkfdir or mkfontdir, depending on kind of font 
being installed in the directory. You can use the output of xlsfonts 
command to see if a particular font is available.

3. Remember, GNU/Linux gives you a really long rope to do things, and if 
you are not careful, you will hang yourselves, and still have enough 
rope to hang the user too.

4. When you have problems, read the manual. If the manual does not 
answer, ask google. If google has no answers, ask the mailing list 
archives. If the list archives have no answers, ask the list. As far as 
possible, avoid private mails - because people will have similar 
problems, and by putting your problems (and somebody's solutions) in a 
publicly accessible archive, you are making life easier for all.

5. If you trash your application configuration, in most cases, you can 
simply move the concerned dotrc file away, and restart the application. 
There is no need to reinstall the app as is common in the non-free 
world. (eg:- You can `reinstall' KDE for a particular user by moving 
the $HOME/.kde* files away). True, this is not a `reinstall' as usually 
understood.

6. Have a separate login on your machine for development and day-to-day 
work. Make sure that you have different settings for both works. 
Remember that out in the wild bad world, the common user is not going 
to use the same settings as you do.

7. While upgrading or installing new applications, remember that there 
is no need to reboot your GNU/Linux system unless you want to change 
the kernel. There are means of forcing the applications to re-read 
configuration files. 

8. The above are general observations. Generalisations might not apply 
in certain specific cases.

9. If you do not get answers from a mailing list, chances are that 
nobody knows the answer. 

11. If you find a bug, do not carp; fix it. Before fixing it, verify 
that it is really a bug and not a feature. You can confirm that a bug 
is a bug by asking the -devel lists for the concerned application. Make 
it a habit to go through the bugzilla pages and mail archives of -devel 
lists. 

10. This list is not complete. 

12. I may be wrong in someplaces. Do not hesitate to point out errors 
when you find them.

-- 
         Mahesh T. Pai    <<>>   http://paivakil.port5.com

free - (adj) able to act at will; not hampered; not under
       compulsion or restraint; free from obligations or duties;
       not bound to servitude; at libertyx.