[FAQ] want to learn linux...

[rayjin]

Hi, I'm noob to Linux. I like to know where I can start learning. I guess I want to start from command-line interface than work upto the GUI interface. Things I like to learn about is the different file systems, how applications are installed, networking, where files go and the functions of the types of directories, etc....

i currently have Suse Linux Pro 9.1 installed but I have no idea where to go from there. All I can do is click click click. :p But I like to manually do the installs and select the components, etc. I think that is the best way for me to learn the guts and stuff but I do need some guidelines to get started.

I hope someone can give me some light into the Linux world. :p

Any nice links or read ups would be appreciated.

[markwolfe Veteran]

http://www.linux.org/lessons/

and

http://www.basiclinux.net/ for a free structured course in weekly installments.

There are tons more! There should be plenty of suggestions here.

[rayjin]

thanks.. these two sites looks great, i'll give them a try.

[mercuryx013]

One of the best resources I have found is www.linuxquestions.org

[markwolfe Veteran]

* performed clean-up of posts *

Let's have helpful, on-topic posts, please.

[CJC]

To me, I was a complete linux noob until I tried installed Gentoo :) After reading the Gentoo handbook and going through the installation, I actually learned a lot of commands and how linux works. Try it out :p

www.gentoo.org

[Alex Shenoy]

I use Debian myself....but im trying out fedora.

If you want to learn Linux...Try using only the terminal for a week. Thats what I did. After I booted RedHat...I opened the terminal and only used the gui to look stuff up. The experience helped me learn alot about not only Linux but my computer config as well.

[Zerosleep]

Get a book and read, read, read.

[Alex Shenoy]

Get a book and read, read, read.

i reply with

  ehh....hard copy.

[Darkinspiration]

i found that the best way of lerning linux os to try to make a bootable disk. It dosent looke like much but makeing a linux bootdisk from scratch is not like making a dos bootdisk. Try making a bootdisk for your system that does certain task like booting and removing files or changing passwords or making config files. it's fun and you learn a lot about linux kernel and boot process

[Sophism]

Join your Local Linux Users group. Put in the countys ya live in and countys nearby into google so for me you would put Hatfield LUG but there isnt a HLUG so i would try BCLUG for bucks county LUG and there is one. So thats the one i belong too.

[markwolfe Veteran]

* moved to FAQ section, and edited title appropriately *

[Knight']

The best way to learn Linux is to do some practical work first. Install Gentoo, deb, or slack. Then you'll learn the basics. After that, you can learn the more advanced stuff through reading about your distro in my depth, how it works etc.

[aem4162]

can anyone recommend a good linux book for noobs?

[markwolfe Veteran]

I think that, when it comes to books, the best thing to do is to go to a local bookstore and browse through their Unix section. (all good bookstores have a Unix section!)

Open up a few books and read through a bit of them. Find ones that start with things you can understand and you can do, make sure that the author presents these things in a way that makes sense to you (everyone is different when it comes to how they learn best), and see if the book covers things that you want to also learn about (security and setting iptables, for example).

It is good to have a few books around, to help cover things that you are having problems with.

That would be my recommendation.

[Cyranthus]

pretty much any book that has "A begginers guide" or "Starting..." but the key to learning Linux is knowing how to use the shell... using GUI linux doesnt require any kind of learning... so i would get some kind of Linux Shell Guide book if i were you and have at it...

[Knight']

Best way to learn is through a distro like gentoo or slack. Other distros like Fedora/SUSE are just too "point and click" and don't really teach you anything.

[aem4162]

my favorite bookstore has a *nix section, but i don't think it's very big. the starter books that i find are learn mandrake, learn fedora, learn red hat, learn fluffybunny....they all specify a certain distro and i even don't know which one i want yet. i've been reading the posts here and it seems like the people who know stuff are pretty much divided equally on fave distros. i read keldyn's guide and was overwhelmed by the choices. i do have a knoppix dvd that came with an english magazine i picked up, but i can't get my machine to boot to it and all my problems with my computer don't help trying to figure out the boot problem.

what does shell mean? there are also references in here about the command line - is it similar to the old dos command line? i know dos like the back of my hand so i could handle that.

[markwolfe Veteran]

The distro-specific books are good if you have that distro, and OK if you don't. A lot of the basics will apply, but RedHat has their 'system' for setting up your PC, Mandrake has theirs, so does SUSE, for example.

And a shell, console, terminal and command prompt are all pretty much the same thing (like a DOS prompt, but much MUCH more powerful!)

There are a lot of choices in the GNU/Linux world. And none of them are really "wrong". Some may not be right for you, but jump in with an easy to install mainstream one, and see what you find is 'lacking' or what you like, and we can better point you into other distros if you are thinking of a different flavor.

They are all GNU/Linux at the core.