Er, no. It’s not that simple; LinuxCNC isn’t plug-and-play. If you don’t have any prior knowledge, you should put the A6 aside for now and start with simple stepper motors. You’ll first need to learn how the system works and what each component does. With EtherCAT, you’re moving beyond the hobbyist level, and even professionals sometimes find it frustrating.
I only broke 4 mice from throwing them in anger... its fiiiinnnee.
In seriousness though, I find its less about beginner vs expert in CNC stuff, and more about if you are well versed in linux usage. Most of my troubles setting up were because the instructions just assume you know everything about linux already and leave a lot of critical details out. I am working with one of my customers to trying an make a true step by step guide.
If you do know "nothing", step and direction with a mesa card is generally pretty safe cause its mostly done by a wizard. You aren't mucking in the terminal or doing much editing in HAL.
(also important to note ethercat in linuxcnc has some quirks too, its not quite "final" in my opinion)
