If I wanted to learn Linux

S

Sean

[H] for Life
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Nov 16, 2000
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If I wanted to learn linux, what guide, manual, book would be a good starting point. I have a copy, and an old machine to run it on, I just want a good stating point in learning.

Cheers,
 
Try using the documentation on the distro's website. The install and maintainance documents are usual good learning tools.
 
i would disagree :D

i've always heard gentoo wasn't a place to start, but a 2nd linux os to something like mandrake...something that's less learning intensive right at the beginning.....just go by what you can figure out reading about different distros...
 
Just go old-school and do it just by the docs on the CD. :) Man pages, HOWTOs, etc...The way it used to be done before all these documentation projects started. :)

Learn to be mostly self-sufficient and how to solve your own problems. You'll understand what you're doing better that way...At least that's how it went for me.

This is where I usually start ranting about it being easier for new users to help themselves but new users seem to be less and less willing to actually do their own searching...
 
I would actually agree. I started out with mandrake, and yes, the install was cake, but I didn't feel "on and in total control." I dumped that OS, and contemplated between Slackware and Gentoo since I heard they were the tougher ones to set up (I almost went with Slack since it's the most Unix-like of the Linuxes).

I chose Gentoo, and while the install can be long if you start on stages 1 or 2, you do learn a lot of things, like compiling the kernel.
 
Evi Nemeth's Linux System Administrator's Handbook is an excellent starting point. She's been teaching Unix systems administration for many years, and is the primary author of the venerable Unix System Administrator's Handbook, on which many professional Unix administrators cut their teeth.
 
Originally posted by ngk
i would disagree :D

i've always heard gentoo wasn't a place to start, but a 2nd linux os to something like mandrake...something that's less learning intensive right at the beginning.....just go by what you can figure out reading about different distros...
Click to expand...

I've been learning linux on a celeron 900, I tried mandrake, toyed with it but it was much too easy, gentoo was going to take much too long to compile, so I went with debian. I'm certainly enjoying apt-get :)
 
Originally posted by Neb
I've been learning linux on a celeron 900, I tried mandrake, toyed with it but it was much too easy, gentoo was going to take much too long to compile, so I went with debian. I'm certainly enjoying apt-get :)
Click to expand...
Too long to compile? So whats the deal with linux and it's install and why does it seem like it's a 2 day process?
 
Linux can be a really fast install (mandrake installs in half an hour).

What we're talking about is Gentoo Linux, which can take over a day if you start from stage 1, since it compiles the entire linux base code.

It all depends on which distro you choose; some have fast installs, some are more involved and can take much longer.
 
I say skip mandrake or maybe even redhat. You cant learn much from them since everything is in a neat GUI which doesnt happen to be everywhere in linux
 
well I'm looking for something for my Dad to do day trading with so I need a really easy layout but I don't want to spend a day installing it.
 
If you want my opinion DON'T go with RedHat or Mandrake. Both of them might get your feet wet in linux and give you the opturnity to tell your mates at school you run linux, but neither of them teach you much off the bat.

I ran RedHat and the learning process was slow. 9/10 things could be done with the GUI which left me not knowing how anything actually worked.

I switched to Slackware and now I live by it. I learnt way more using Slack in the first few weeks then the whole time with redhat.

Plus its simple. Not bloated, things are laid out nicely. Just makes it all the easier when your learning (i reckon anyways)

Take the init layout for eg... I can't stand RedHat's init but slack uses a BSD init layout which is 100 times easier to understand and work with.

This is how I learnt anyways (im still learning)... Different people, different methods...
 
Im a total newB when it comes to linux, so bare with me.

When you start getting away from the red-hats, suse's, and mandrakes, is knowledge of a programming language really necessary?

Like, if i were to run gentoo, would i need some C or C++ knowledge? or could i get away with NO programming knowledge.

(i ask this question because i hear linux is "not protected"; in that you can actually view the source code.... where'as windows is really protected.)

~Thanks
 
You don't need any programming knowledge to use Linux.

Yes, Linux is open source, and you can see the source files if you want, I've written some new stuff into the Linux source before for experimenting.

However, if all you're doing is using Linux, you don't need programming knowledge.
 
i cant program either, my c abilities are printf, scanf and if functions, but it is still good to have a little understanding of c, since occationally you will need to poke around in a make file or fiddle around with gcc.
 
ah, glad to hear.

I too know the very simple C++, (more VB6 then C++), and ide be totally lost if i needed to know alot of C++.

:SIGH:

Hehe, once i get a crapy old comp for free, im gonna HAVE TO try out linux. I tried it once on my current computer, but my red hat 6 install never made it past my Promise SCSI controller... then it locked up, HEHE. ^_^ :(
 
if you just want to check out linux a little i recommend going to LinuxISO and downloading a copy of Knoppix. most people will probably tell you not to do this, but it's very nice b/c it runs off of a CD and you don't really have to get to crazy with it. it's nice because it gives you a little bit of a feel for what linux is like. that's the very first linux i tried. i'm now onto Red Hat. i looked at mandrake briefly but that's it. i still don't know much about linux. i'm just gonna keep downloading distro's and try them out. have fun
 
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