But that may be its own rub. 'Beginner' is a stage which one goes through on the way to something else, while I think that Jeff is looking for something that could well be permanent -- what Anna Martelli Ravenscroft called (calls?) 'for the rest of us'. She too was stuck on the 'but what would I do with it' question.
I use the word "tourist" a lot, and I think computer world is so huge that we're all tourists in big parts of it, when we wander far afield (to be encouraged -- changes are we bring back new insights, or maybe even move the home office). A tourist in Python Nation might be a high mucky muck in the Republic of Perl (they actually have their own names for these things). Probably another reason I like "tourist" is that one generally treats them well, offers guidebooks, guides, opportunities for recreation and entertainment. We know that tourists are somewhat out of their depth and don't hold it against 'em. However, I also use "gnubee" (aka "newbie") because of the "gnu" inflection mixed with the "busy bee" connotation -- plus bees are cross-pollinators, wanderers, another big meme with me... Science would be ruined if it were to withdraw entirely into narrowly defined specialties. The rare scholars who are wanderers-by-choice are essential to the intellectual welfare of the settled disciplines -- Benoit Mandelbrot You can maybe see the "wanderer = tourist" equation lurking in the above. And when you're not a tourist anymore, what are you? Maybe a neighbor, a local, or "on staff" in some way -- different terms apply, depending on the namespace. I've you're a master of Python, you might be a snake charmer in my book. Kirby