Old 'newbies' and aconyms
 

I have been a Linux 'newbie' for about 5 years! I feel I have made little progress. My main problem is age. As you get older your short term memory gets very short. Your mental RAM is soon full. I have just used one of the few acronyms that I know. Technical literature is often dosed with acronyms and Linux is probably the worst instance of this. If, in an article, a acronym is used and in its first use was followed by a bracketed reminder, that would be a great help. Thus my sentence above would be 'Your mental RAM (random access memory) is soon full.

Have I a question? Ah yes. Can anyone suggest a brand of Linux that does not assume it user to be a 21 year old wizz kid

Hi and welcome to LQ.

You might try Linux Mint. It might be what you're after.

Also simplyMepis and PCLinuxOS might be a good start.

Hi and another welcome. I'll be 70 next March and, like you, my short term memory isn't what it used to be. I've used Debian for years and still do. It suits me but chacun à son goût. You can burn a batch of live cd's and get a feel for a number of different *distros* (this term is more commonly used in Linux circles than "brand") and then stick with the one you're most comfortable with. If you come across any nasty acronyms then just give us a shout and someone will come to your aid.

Above all enjoy yourself. :)
ciao,
jdk

http://www.acronyms.ch/searchResults...llFields=false

Kind regards

In the olden days, when I was a young 'un, this was a rule for using acronyms in formal writing. Persons who write for new users certainly need to follow this.

When you're using site such as LQ, many acronyms can be found with the giggle by giggling "[acronym] Linux."

About dot com has a good intro site that is careful to explain stuff. I had been using Linux for four years when I stumbled over it and still learned stuff. I would recommend the Linux 101 and Glossary links.

It comes up with time that many people (and count myself to those people) simply forget that, because they (I) deal so often with those acronyms that they (I) simply don't think about that somebody doesn't know the meaning.

I like people who know how to enjoy themselves; that made me smile :)

One of the secrets of being healthy as an older adult is generally considered to be learning.

For the most part I try to think of things like this.

If you know how one OS does it then there is a similar deal in linux. You don't need to relearn the task you just need to know the terms and caveats.

acromyms
 

Thanks to everyone who replied and for the help they gave, Roger