Adding users

Going through the various installations (i.e., adding users) went ok. I can mechanically enter the commands and follow the step-by-step instructions for the exercises. Several times I had questions about some instructions that weren't clear to me but after reading and re-reading the instructions and trying a few things on my own, I managed to forge forward. There is also so much to do, start here, load this, go here, do this, that I have a hard time getting my 'compass to turn north'! In other words, the hardest part for me is trying to make sure I understand the objective of what we are doing each week, completing all assignments, and reflecting on the exercises. I appreciate the way Bruce organized the class (though sometimes it's a bit confusing), how much time he invests in helping all of us, and how supportive my classmates are. I am learning, slowly but I'm learning.

Text editors

I think the tutorials and readings describing text editors are really helpful. I find it useful to hear the audio and see the commands executed on the screen. I only wish the transcripts were available so that I didn't spend a lot of time taking notes. The commands are really overwhelming to remember but that's not an issue in my mind because I know I can easily pull these up online or by other means. I am getting the intended results in the hands-on assignments; however, I don't really understand why we are running the commands. To help with this, one thing I do is review the lecture and assignments just to get an overall sense of work for the week. I then read all the posts in the "Activity" and "Discussion" section so that I am aware of some things I might encounter when I work through the assignments. This strategy has worked wonders for me because I am relaxed and prepared with fixes if things don't work like they are supposed to. I only hope that I am able to connect everything as the course advances.

Ubuntu Desktop

I finally got the downloads to work. I literally attempted ~12 times for both the server and desktop so I was angry and frustrated. I still don't understand what md5sum is and I wonder why with our technological advances why one can't check this before the download occurs?! At the end of every download, md5sum'ing was a natural instinct for me. I even did it for the VMWare Workstation :)

I feel pretty foolish because I expended a lot of time listening to the uacbt tutorials and taking notes. I liked seeing the commands and screen video shots but I found the written notes from our course reserves the most helpful (my preferred learning style). While I spent an immense amount of time on the uacbt tutorials I did find it helpful when I worked with the Live CD.

I was dreading the boot because of the aforementioned problems with the downloads; however, to my surprise it went well. I played around with commands but I don't know what I was doing nor how I can apply it in my job. I hope this becomes clearer as we move along the course.