Agree, the arcsynthesis is one the best OpenGL tutorials. But, I don't think it was targeted to a beginner.
A beginner wants to draw something after the first chapter, he doesn't need or wants to understand the hole picture first. This is the way most people learn, first they imitate without understanding, they practice and after a while they understand.
Yes, a beginner should probably try a tutorial like the OP
(or the NeHe tutorials), and once they get some understanding of what OpenGL is move on to in-depth tutorials, like arcsynthesis.
"This may mean a slower start overall, but when you finally get to the end, you truly know how everything works. [...] One thing this book is not, however, is a book on graphics APIs. [...] This book is intended to teach you how to be a graphics programmer."
