Looking for sites and books on learning Linux

[Cyber Akuma]

First of all, I want to say that I am not new to computers, so I am not looking for something that will assume you barely know how to turn a system on or use a mouse, or are unfamiliar with standard concepts such as copy and paste and so forth.

I've been using Windows and DOS for over a decade now, so mostly my experiences are limited to the Windows GUI and the DOS CLI, as well as performed dozens of hardware upgrades and system builds.

I have installed small Xubuntu partitions on several of my systems, as an emergency/backup os, my laptop is the main system I am trying to learn Linux on, I triple boot windows and two distros of Linux on it.

My main laptop has Ubuntu using GNOME and OpenSUSE using KDE installed on it. So far I have mostly been using GUI tools, not a great way to start off since Linux is so heavily cli based, and found this to be the hardest os to attempt to self-learn from all the ones I have tried, including other cli based operating systems ( ok ok, on second thought, AS/400 systems were worse....). On top of this I only have academic programming knowledge, I can't actually program anything beyond Hello World, not good since Linux is heavily based on open source as well, haven't had much luck attempting to compile the odd program every now and then that isn't in the repositories either.

Clearly, I am not going to be able to learn how to use this operating system from just attempting to use it, which is why I am asking what sites, or preferably, books you would personally recommend to learn how to use Linux, and eventually even how to troubleshoot and administer it.

[YaZoR]

Personally I'd recommend O'Reilly's books. I've been a DOS/Windows user since 1992, and since 2000 I've been playing around with Linux and Unix.

Something like Linux in a Nutshell [6th Edition] will get you started, including a nice ~500 page reference of Linux commands. As you say, you're not a computer noob and this book doesn't imply it.

Though I did start with the great RUTE document (Rute User's Tutorial and Exposition). Which is free to view/download, but a hardcopy you have to purchase. Though it is somewhat dated now.

[markwolfe Veteran]

I would recommend going into a regular brick-and-mortar bookstore and browse their computer/unix section. Page through several books, and find one that meets the two following criteria:

• Starts at your level and uses a style and examples that you feel comfortable with.
  
• The book progresses into areas that are more advanced, and are of interest to you. The back half of the book should cover things you want to know, and browsing the books in the store is very useful as you can see something in one book that you didn't think about wanting to know.
  

[Solid Knight]

I would recommend going into a regular brick-and-mortar bookstore and browse their computer/unix section. Page through several books, and find one that meets the two following criteria:

• Starts at your level and uses a style and examples that you feel comfortable with.
  
• The book progresses into areas that are more advanced, and are of interest to you. The back half of the book should cover things you want to know, and browsing the books in the store is very useful as you can see something in one book that you didn't think about wanting to know.
  

This is how I buy my books.

Problems compiling programs usually has to do with missing libraries. Although it isn't obvious it will tell you or give you a hint as to what is missing.

You might want to look at Unix first as Linux is more chaotic in nature than Unix.

[Kreuger]

So far I have mostly been using GUI tools, not a great way to start off since Linux is so heavily cli based

That right there will get you right off track. Most modern distros are pretty well GUI based now. Rarely should you have to pop in to a terminal.

On top of this I only have academic programming knowledge, I can't actually program anything beyond Hello World, not good since Linux is heavily based on open source as well, haven't had much luck attempting to compile the odd program every now and then that isn't in the repositories either.

I'm not entirely sure why this matters. I've maybe once written hello world in linux. Just because it's open source, doesn't mean you need to be a programmer to contribute back to the community. Most devs respect that users aren't inclined to tear apart their source and are quite happy to just accept your bug reports.

On the topic at hand, I think the previous posts should help enough