The Raspberry Pi is more of a multi-dimensional gateway than anything else. It’s an entry point for kids. It’s a point of discovery for young folks. It’s a great environment for beginning to learn several languages and also for beginning to cheaply and safely explore computer hardware. It’s more than just an entry point for makers who quickly discover phenomenal, almost breath taking power. (The first moon launch had an onboard Apple II as a controller. Imagine what NASA could have done with a Raspberry Pi and an intermediate Python programmer who understood the basics of the GPIO module.)

Sooner or later to improve, develop, extend or just maintain their little Pi, a user finds they must descend to the murky depths of the Pi. They journey down to the frightening Raspian OS when they must use one line commands like some kind of ancient text adventure game. We’ve all been there.

“Wow” I remember thinking. I wish I could find a simple, basic list of the essential stuff I need to know – that would save me hours-if-not-days of search.

So a new article has been added to the Raspberry Pi section. Its a starting place about a page long with the essentials.