Just getting started
 

Hello. I've been wanting to be a Linux person for many years, but never managed to find download, installation, and getting started as straightforward as the websites were saying those tasks should be. There seems to be a no-person's-land, a newbie gap; it's very difficult to get from not understanding enough to stay afloat (pardon the mixing of metaphors -- land, water) to -- well -- understanding enough to stay afloat. I should get myself into some proper computer classes. I keep thinking I should be able to self-educate, but I don't have the right sort of geeky friends to run to when I hit a snag, and Linux forums and documentation have been pretty overwhelmingly technical, so it's been difficult to make progress.

Enough about woe: I have made progress, nonetheless. I have just, with minimal help, assembled a new computer (almost certainly with lovelier specs than I need), and am determined to try life without Windows. I've successfully installed Ubuntu 12.04, and will post my current glitch question soon, if searching doesn't yield what I need.

I'm very glad you're all here, and glad that the moderators keep the place pleasant and sleek. Thanks for reading.

Just persevere, Kirsten. All problems are solvable.