Nowadays it's developed into a term that just means beginner. With WS, which is a free/cheap method there might be some tangentially associated overlap, but newbies are beloved to us and treated with great respect. They are beginners and we love helping them. WSers are enablers and beginners are to be enabled.

Hi, I guess I'm a newbie... Just learning all about Winter Sowing. Want to try it this year and I have been reading all I can about it so I can get ahead on the garden come spring. :) I think this seed swapping will be fun too. I don't have a lot to swap but some marigolds and zinnas.
Thanks trudi_d for you everything you do for WS

I read that among the geeks and nerds 'newbie' had evolved into 'noobs'.

I saw 'noobs' used for the first time on the discussion side of this forum today. Perhaps new jargon has arrived.

''...the term “newbie” originates “from British public-school and military
slang variant of ‘new boy,’” perhaps explaining the origin of the “b.”
“newbie” remained the dominant identifier for novices online until
around September 2005, when it was surpassed by the modern form. ...''

-A Cultural History of Noobs - The Atlantic