>>there are plenty of good Intro to Unix books available out there.

>Yes I know. I am reading three of them right now. (Is that enough? <grin>)

>The word 'terminal' (in the sense we are discussing at least) is not even 
>in one of them.

So maybe they aren't _good_ intro to Unix books.  You have to be very careful
when you purchase technical documentation.  You need to pay attention to
how old the manuscript is, how many revisions it has undergone (2nd editions
are always more accurate and better laid-out), and how credible the author
is.

Another important point is to figure out to which audience the book is aimed.

Many books will talk down to you, and even sacrifice correctness for ease of
reading.  This is not a good quality for a computer book to posess.

On the other hand, there are plenty of books which I would classify as, "dry."
For example, I chose the definitive C++ reference, "The C++ Programming
Language."  It was written by Bjarne Stroustrup, the 'inventor' of C++.
Although it contains all the information I need, it has no humor, no
enlightening anecdotes, and is not a joy to read.

My very favourite publisher is O'Reilly and Associates... I'm sure I'm not 
the only person reading this list who feels this way.  Their books are fun
to read, strive for (above all) technical accuracy, and commonly highlight
the Reasons for strange traits of Unix.  I've never regretted buying one
of their books.

Hmm, this kind of turned into an ad for ORA.  I swear, I'm not earning a
commission. :)

In a nutshell (bwahaha), I recommend that you purchase a few books that
were published by O'Reilly.  "Essential System Administration" is excellent,
as is "Unix in a Nutshell." They also have a very basic into to Unix book,
which you may want to peruse.  It'll definitely mention what a terminal is,
and why your shell was configured to ask you for a new terminal type.

Anyway, happy configuring.  I think you'll soon find that your system need
not do anything you find silly.. when it comes to Unix, the user is in
control.

Jonathan