Need a bit of a How-To

I am only going to apologize once, and this is it. I am sorry for being a noobie to Drupal and LAMP and Aegir. Done. I am excited about using installation profiles, generating them and using them. I cannot quite understand how to create one. I would like to learn using my first play/learn/test drupal site. Being new to PHP and Drupal, but familiar with ASP and VBA (sorry about that too.), I think I should manage if I can just get a leg up. Is there any way someone skilled with install profiles could provide me with a bit of conceptual (almost clear, but not quite yet) instructions and stepwise instructions on how to create and how to install an install profile. You know, read these 3 background articles first; place x in folder y; run this command; replace that_vague_term with your_item_name. This would be a great help for me. And since I am serious about learning Drupal, I would be happy to maintain this instructional piece and develop it along with my own growth, incorporating other user input. I think this type of an instruction manual would be a powerful help for noobies to get over a major initial point-of-entry hurdle and really understand drupal well enough to adopt it seriously. Please reach out and help me, and with me, help those who follow.