Welcome to your favourite forum, Allister! 
I love the “correct” (British English) spelling of the adjective!
You will find many different folks here: some are daily visitors, some more like weekly, and others who pop up only when they have a specific question or issue.
What you will also find is a great community of FOSS-using photographers who are pleased to share experiences, opinions, joys and even sorrows, but above all photographs in a respectful manner - witness the thread above!
Yes, if you ask FAQ you may be directed to RTFM, or search the forum, however often with a link helpfully provided, as you see above.
I do hope you will also eventually contribute to the ever-popular capture thread here which is still going strong after more than 2500 entries.
And yes: play raw. It is my opinion that I learned the most from studying the way other members here were able to achieve what I was trying and failing to do. Although studying a long play raw thread of any image can be valuable, if it is one you have taken and uploaded yourself, there is naturally a greater engagement. A couple of tips about playraw:
- assign a license to your raw image
- upload a jpg that is no more than 2000 pixels in largest dimension. I often limit myself to 1280px
In terms of improving your photography (more emphasis on the capturing; less on your editing) - assigning a critique tag will lead to many comments; they may not all be what you want to hear,and you may disagree with some, but some will certainly be helpful.
There is much more that could be said; this forum has been significant for me for some years; I hope it may be a helpful place for you.