This is an approach reminiscent of some of the most brilliant professors that I've encountered. And of senior software and hardware folks that already understa

This is an approach reminiscent of some of the most brilliant professors that I've encountered. And of senior software and hardware folks that already understand the whole stack. And of the Unix man pages. Technical education (much like a user interface, for that matter) is all about progressive disclosure. Hit a freshman with details that are natural and fundamental to a Master's or PhD, or hit a web n00b with Javascript or CSS up front, or the contents of a classic man page, and you're going to overload and overwhelm most of the folks. Moving along to the quirks and the details is certainly necessary as a n00b advances, of course. But it's not where you want to start. A n00b needs to get some things understood and working, and to learn how the pieces fit together, and then work toward an understanding of Javascript, CSS, HTTP, HTTPS and other components of the foundation. But you don't want to start a n00b with a man page.