Could anyone point me towards a "Dummy's Guide to Open-Source"?

[Richard Steele]

(I have actually managed to install xDarwin and OpenOffice,
but only because they had some great step-by-step instructions.)

The last time I actually PROGRAMMED anything was way back
when 5-inch floppies roamed the earth.
For most of the open-source projects over at SourceForge,
I simply lack the basic knowledge to even understand the
instructions.

So I need to start from square one, and take the time
to actually LEARN the basic terminology and concepts involved.
I don't have any small children around to teach me, so I'm trying
to find some sort of beginner-level online tutorials to learn from.

Any advice/assistance y'all can offer will be GREATLY appreciated.

[Wrinkle_In_Time]

1. Check out Wikipedia's...

...entry on Open Source, especially the See also and External links sections on that page.

5.25-inch floppies, huh? You Johnny-come-lately! :P