Newbie
Usenet's word for the newcomer who hadn't read the FAQ yet — affectionate or contemptuous, depending on how the question was asked.
The word spread on Usenet in the 1980s, probably from British slang for the new boy at school or the fresh recruit. A newbie asked questions answered a hundred times before, posted in the wrong group and quoted too much. The community's answer was the FAQ: a document that existed so nobody would have to answer the same question again.
The distinction mattered. A newbie who read up and lurked before posting was welcome; one who refused to learn got called a lamer or became material for parodies like B1FF. Later contractions such as "newb" and "n00b" carry the same split — the first can grow out of it, the second has decided to stay.