Take a look at many of the traditional ways of learning.
Most People Cannot Learn from a Book
First, let me say, I recognize there are people who can pick up a book and learn. But most people just cannot do it. I think there are several reasons for this. One reason is that any book assumes a certain amount of knowledge about the subject. People start reading a book on how to build a Linux Server and the book naturally assumes you are a Desktop user and can use the command line, for instance. Well, if you do not have these skills, you are not going to learn from that book. Al learner also needs to understand context. Many times the context of the information will determine how it it employed. If you are not aware of the context you will be trying to apply it incorrectly. If people could read a book and then when they get stuck call the publisher for an answer, great progress could be made, but that is not the case.
Online HowTOs
There is a huge movement of people using HowTOs online to learn Linux. This movement using blogs, websites, twitter, etc. has made it much easier to gain access for all people to Linux. However, you still have issues with tutorials that assume a certain amount of understanding to start with and yet that is not fully communicated. Or, the author has been at such a high level of learning themselves that users cannot grasp the concepts. The biggest problem with HowTOs is that people may understand 85% of the ariticle, but the 15% they do not understand is going to break the concept.
Forums Can be Rough
When people go to online forums several issues are usually in play. One, the need help now…they need to get an answer to a question. Nobody makes the effort to post a question just for fun, they are looking for a solution to a specific problem. Now if you look over forums you will see several things, one many questions do get answered but they may only be partial answers or they may be bad answers, even wrong. You will also see some answers just never get answered. But the worst thing about forums is that you may ask a question and someone burns you for being so “stupid” or asking in the wrong forum. And those people leave never to return for an answer. Now to be fair to forums they are about as close as you can get to finding solutions to specific questions you ask online and many people do find solutions here.
The beauty of asking a question to a live person, is that the person responding to the question can provide context, deeper understanding and immediate solutions to questions asked. In addition, since most people are better and faster with speech, the question asswer, verification and solution come much easier. So when you are looking for training solutions, especially for a company moving to Linux, look for a solution where the student can ask questions over their time of learning.
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