Starting Out

I've come to the point where I'm not longer happy with my current level of knowledge about computers. Some of you can probably relate to that.

I came here trying to find some advice/help/information on where I could start my new search for knowledge. I'm not looking for hacking stuff, but instead information on networking, Linux, and anything else you guys recommend I look into in my search.

If someone has a preferred version of Linux, or knows what version is good for beginners w/ the program, I would be very grateful if you'd provide me w/ that information.

Advice on what computer languages are frequently used in corporations or just in general would be greatly appreciated.

Sites or manuals that you recommend would also be of great help. I'm hoping you guys are willing to assist me in my "search", as my hunger for knowledge is growing exponentionally.

Thanks in advance,

Dave

 

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First, you want to aquaint yourself with the basics.

Stage #1

1)Download or buy an *easy* distro like mandrake. Play with it for a few weeks. The reason I suggest an *easy* distro is because you want to get a feel before jumping into an expansive and sometimes cold body that is open source.
-learn how to use the command line. Know how to compile source code and familiarize yourself with the most important commands. Some of them are:
./configre, make, make install
tar -zxvf...etc
-learn about /etc/fstab, /etc/lilo.conf (assuming that you use lilo) and /etc/inittab. These, IMO are some of the most important files for a beginner to know about.
-Understand the directory layout
-Learn some shell script if possible.

2) Browse sites such as www.distrowatch.com which has many links to other sites at the bottom www.linuxiso.org www.linuxquestions.org or any other sites that interest you. I reccommend browsing distrowatch very highly. Not just for the latest news, but all of the information and links it has concerning the most popular distros.

Visit these sites, too (if only once):
www.knoppix.net
www.slackware-live.org and

www.google.com/linux -- which is a very useful tool for finding answers to your questions.

3) Check out books from the library. Some of them are dated and only deal with redhat, but the general information can be very useful. There are many books on networking in linux and shell script.

Stage 2
1) Keep mandrake, but add another partition to your drive (using diskdrake or some type of graphical partitioning tool.) On it, install a more natural distro like slackware. If you feel you aren't ready yet, you could try something like libranet (www.libranet.org) in order to get a feel for linux in its more unixy form. Libranet, BTW, is based on debian -- something I wouldn't attempt until you have a good feel for slack.

2) Deepen your understanding through more research and books. Now is a great time to learn shell if you already haven't. You should also be comfortable in at the command line by this point. Remember, graphical interfaces such as KDE are completely seperate modules from core linux. Most users find their way back to the command line, anyways. It's very fast, stable and makes you feel like a real rebel.

That is the great thing about linux. In windows, the GUI is part of the OS. If a bug crashes the gui, it crashes the entire system. This is one of the main flaws in windows.

3) Bringin me to another important point. Up to this point, you've probably only been using KDE. Good as it is, it can be a bad habit to get into. Try gnome, XFCE, fluxbox and my personal fav - iceWM. If you can't handle the basic command line, then in these window managers, you'll be alot closer to *nix than say KDE.

Stage 3.
This is when you go wild. Play with as many distros as you can. Build your own linux from scratch (www.lfs.org)

Explore software. Learn whatever interests you. Once you reach this point, anything is fair game. Course, this is my personal recipe to learning linux. What may be straightforward to me could, for you, be completely wrong.

Good luck

 

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just askin..

i know that their are distro's that dont have a graphical interface and just work through BASH. I know that u can just not install the GUI but are their any that are small and compact. Where are they and what are they?


Cheers

 

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