Project to learn linux?

[Lilrich]

Hello Everyone,

I want to learn more about linux but not really sure what kind of projects i could do to get to grips with commands etc.

Initially i will be running it in Parallels VM for mac...

Richard

[Syanide]

#1: What do you want to use it for? Desktop, server, programming, media center, or just learning general linux/unix commands (mind that terminal is not that necessary for typical desktops)?

#2: Depending on #1 we'll help you pick a distro.

#3: And then the fun starts.

:)

EDIT: A safe choice would be Ubuntu I guess, and since you're running it virtually there are no chances of breaking anything. I just thought of this project: Ubuntu Manual. It's an ebook, and a bit of an extensive read, but they've covered pretty much everything from installing to using terminal. Note that it is meant for Ubuntu 10.04, but almost everything should apply to 9.10 as well (especially the terminal commands), and it is still a draft, lots of screenshots missing, but it should get you started nicely.

[Lilrich]

  On 22/03/2010 at 10:27, Symod said:

#1: What do you want to use it for? Desktop, server, programming, media center, or just learning general linux/unix commands (mind that terminal is not that necessary for typical desktops)?

#2: Depending on #1 we'll help you pick a distro.

#3: And then the fun starts.

:)

#1: Not really sure i would say server based tasks it will never replace my mac which i use for everything else, music, pictures etc etc i just want to learn linux so i have a better understanding of how to use it and was looking for ideas on how i could best do that

#2: See 1?

#3: Still waiting for the fun....

[brentaal]

  On 22/03/2010 at 10:16, Lilrichie said:

get to grips with commands

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3551/3399154991_be6c775aa4_o.jpg

(Y)

[Phenom II]

I know nothing about linux, and was able to learn with Ubuntu, I would reccomend Ubuntu for beginners

[Syanide]

  On 22/03/2010 at 10:40, brentaal said:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3551/3399154991_be6c775aa4_o.jpg

(Y)

That's awesome :D

[Lilrich]

  On 22/03/2010 at 10:40, brentaal said:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3551/3399154991_be6c775aa4_o.jpg

(Y)

That is fantistic :laugh: i want that on A3

[Lilrich]

many people consider ubuntu not to be a 'real'linux distro is this the best operating system to play with at the start or should i go with something more defined, my main goal really is to expand my knowledge of linux to further my IT knowledge.

[+stereopixels Subscriber²]

  On 22/03/2010 at 13:13, Lilrichie said:

many people consider ubuntu not to be a 'real'linux distro is this the best operating system to play with at the start or should i go with something more defined, my main goal really is to expand my knowledge of linux to further my IT knowledge.

That's not true at all - yes, Ubuntu makes it easier by providing a GUI for performing most system tasks, however, there is absolutely nothing to stop you from doing everything using BASH instead - which means it provides the perfect platform to learn Linux on - get to grips with how the GUI does things, then once you understand what's going on under the hood a little more, you can tinker with things without using the GUI.

[Syanide]

  On 22/03/2010 at 13:13, Lilrichie said:

many people consider ubuntu not to be a 'real'linux distro is this the best operating system to play with at the start or should i go with something more defined, my main goal really is to expand my knowledge of linux to further my IT knowledge.

I'd say yes. To me, it's important that the first step is as painless as possible. After that you can compare it to other distros and see what is the same and what is different.

[fusi0n]

  On 22/03/2010 at 13:13, Lilrichie said:

many people consider ubuntu not to be a 'real'linux distro is this the best operating system to play with at the start or should i go with something more defined, my main goal really is to expand my knowledge of linux to further my IT knowledge.

Ubuntu is just as real as a Linux distro as any other.. Ubuntu is great!

[James]

  On 22/03/2010 at 13:13, Lilrichie said:

many people consider ubuntu not to be a 'real'linux distro is this the best operating system to play with at the start or should i go with something more defined, my main goal really is to expand my knowledge of linux to further my IT knowledge.

I went with Gentoo as my first distribution, it was recommended by a friend, it is very much like being thrown into the deep end, but at least you'll be forced to do things that would normally be automated on ubuntu (ie. compiling your own kernel, package dependencies, package compilation, making your own choices, etc.). They have a lot of very detailed documentation that explains what everything does and why you're doing it.

[ichi]

  On 22/03/2010 at 14:14, James said:

I went with Gentoo as my first distribution, it was recommended by a friend, it is very much like being thrown into the deep end, but at least you'll be forced to do things that would normally be automated on ubuntu (ie. compiling your own kernel, package dependencies, package compilation, making your own choices, etc.). They have a lot of very detailed documentation that explains what everything does and why you're doing it.

Gentoo is great and you can learn a lot tinkering with it, but I think there should be some previous experience with Linux to realize why you might want to do any of that stuff when otherwise you wouldn't have to. That or a strong motivation.

Without some perspective it can seem pointless and become overwhelming. And boring.

[Lilrich]

  On 22/03/2010 at 21:38, ichi said:

Gentoo is great and you can learn a lot tinkering with it, but I think there should be some previous experience with Linux to realize why you might want to do any of that stuff when otherwise you wouldn't have to. That or a strong motivation.

Without some perspective it can seem pointless and become overwhelming. And boring.

This is my main problem, i have my imac which i am obviously running ALL of my applications on which manage my music, documents, twitter, im everything but i want to learn linux but really don't know what to do with it to learn if you get me?

[Syanide]

  On 22/03/2010 at 21:43, Lilrichie said:

This is my main problem, i have my imac which i am obviously running ALL of my applications on which manage my music, documents, twitter, im everything but i want to learn linux but really don't know what to do with it to learn if you get me?

Click on the Ubuntu icon in my signature, download it, put it in a VM, and that should get you started on the basics. There is no magical recipe for learning it, especially when you consider that Linux is not unified, there are various distros, various desktop environments and window managers, but the basics, especially the command line is the same.

[Lilrich]

It is all installed just not sure what to do with it now?

[+InsaneNutter MVC]

I learnt quite a bit about Linux by setting up and configuring an Unreal Tournament 2004 server though the command line, my motivation was to save money... the Linux VPS was half the price compared to the Windows VPS and i got more space / ram.

To do that I had to learn a lot of the basics and then some, for example cron jobs. Not having access to a GUI will teach you quite a bit i found.

If your not going to use Linux as your main OS i think its pointless installing it on your desktop, ive installed it on a second PC in the past to learn and found i never used it.

[Syanide]

  On 22/03/2010 at 22:02, Lilrichie said:

It is all installed just not sure what to do with it now?

Well, just staring at it won't help. Here's a task. Enable Medibuntu repositories, and install Java, Flash, and audio/video codecs, then watch

video on YouTube. You have 15 minutes :p

[Lilrich]

  On 22/03/2010 at 22:20, Symod said:

Well, just staring at it won't help. Here's a task. Enable Medibuntu repositories, and install Java, Flash, and audio/video codecs, then watch

video on YouTube. You have 15 minutes :p

I am going to take you up on that and give it a go :)

[Lilrich]

  On 22/03/2010 at 22:20, Symod said:

Well, just staring at it won't help. Here's a task. Enable Medibuntu repositories, and install Java, Flash, and audio/video codecs, then watch

video on YouTube. You have 15 minutes :p

Yay it works :D

[Syanide]

Great. Since you're coming from a Mac, you might find Gnome-Do useful, it's a Quicksilver-like app, give it a try. sudo apt-get install gnome-do in terminal or look for Gnome Do in the software center.

Not sure how good you are with graphics, but it's worth a shot and could be fun, I just saw this... (sudo apt-get) install inkscape, then try recreating the Ubuntu 10.04 wallpaper.

As for the command line, a new task! :D Set the desktop to your liking, then figure out an easy way of taking a screenshot of it from terminal!

[PhillAholic]

I would personally recommend going with Ubuntu. Their support forums are incredible for troubleshooting, and most of the time the users are nice enough to help you. Unlike Gentoo, who I've found to be total snobs. Think Comic Book Guy for Linux, but worse. Couldn't stand them in real life either. Gentoo seems to get the latest stuff sooner, but it's far far from "just works" when you want something simple. Ubuntu is a great start. My 50 year old Dad with barely any computer knowledge uses it. I don't have to worry about him downloading random exe's. He's not allowed to use sudo either, so that helps too.

[Lilrich]

  On 23/03/2010 at 00:25, Symod said:

Great. Since you're coming from a Mac, you might find Gnome-Do useful, it's a Quicksilver-like app, give it a try. sudo apt-get install gnome-do in terminal or look for Gnome Do in the software center.

I installed this but first i had a little trouble, for some reason the package list hadn't updated since i added the medibuntu repos so i went to snayptic manager and reloaded it that way, what is the command to re-load the repository list from the terminal?

Also is their anyway to change the prefs on Gnome-Do currently it is sitting like a OS X dock at the bottom of my screen but i can't figure out where the prefs are to mage the hover etc smaller when rolling over.

  On 23/03/2010 at 00:25, Symod said:

Not sure how good you are with graphics, but it's worth a shot and could be fun, I just saw this... (sudo apt-get) install inkscape, then try recreating the Ubuntu 10.04 wallpaper.

I am going to give this a shot tonight, i installed inkscape this morning so it is ready to go when i get home, i will post my results :)

  On 23/03/2010 at 00:25, Symod said:

As for the command line, a new task! :D Set the desktop to your liking, then figure out an easy way of taking a screenshot of it from terminal!

Interesting....i have no idea how to change a theme in Gnome so this will be insteresting...andi i have to do it 100% from the command line you say? Woah some task! Again will post a screenshot when i am done.

[Syanide]

  On 23/03/2010 at 08:13, Lilrichie said:

I installed this but first i had a little trouble, for some reason the package list hadn't updated since i added the medibuntu repos so i went to snayptic manager and reloaded it that way, what is the command to re-load the repository list from the terminal?

sudo apt-get update

  Quote

Also is their anyway to change the prefs on Gnome-Do currently it is sitting like a OS X dock at the bottom of my screen but i can't figure out where the prefs are to mage the hover etc smaller when rolling over.

Click on the first, purple icon, then go to appearance tab, but I'm not sure if what you're trying to do is possible. Btw, Gnome Do is currently in the process of removing the dock part as a whole in favour of a separate project called Docky (which has more features, themes etc), and they are trying to remain an aplication launcher only. How to instal Docky in Ubuntu 9.10 (they explain it with terminal commands because it's faster). You can do the same via gui by pasting the apt line (ppa:docky-core/ppa) to software sources list, reloading the packages in Synaptic, and searching for docky package in it.

  Quote

I am going to give this a shot tonight, i installed inkscape this morning so it is ready to go when i get home, i will post my results :)

That's cool, I was thinking about trying it myself with a different color scheme, but my knowledge of Inkscape is pretty limited actually :D

  Quote

Interesting....i have no idea how to change a theme in Gnome so this will be insteresting...andi i have to do it 100% from the command line you say? Woah some task! Again will post a screenshot when i am done.

*cough* hint *cough*

[Lilrich]

  On 23/03/2010 at 08:47, Symod said:

sudo apt-get update

D'oh :alien: i feel silly now it seems obvious when it is pointed out.

  On 23/03/2010 at 08:47, Symod said:

Click on the first, purple icon, then go to appearance tab, but I'm not sure if what you're trying to do is possible. Btw, Gnome Do is currently in the process of removing the dock part as a whole in favour of a separate project called Docky (which has more features, themes etc), and they are trying to remain an aplication launcher only. How to instal Docky in Ubuntu 9.10 (they explain it with terminal commands because it's faster). You can do the same via gui by pasting the apt line (ppa:docky-core/ppa) to software sources list, reloading the packages in Synaptic, and searching for docky package in it.

I may install docky instead of gnome-do then or keep gnome-do just as the app launcher :)

  On 23/03/2010 at 08:47, Symod said:

*cough* hint *cough*

:shiftyninja: