Learning linux

[justjort]

Hi all,

I am really aspired to learn linux. But where can i find some good tutorials (video's preferred). I had a look on youtube, but most video series are too short.

 

[Guest]

This series taught me all I know, literally.

 

 

@justjort

[omniomi]

Hi all,

I am really aspired to learn linux. But where can i find some good tutorials (video's preferred). I had a look on youtube, but most video series are too short.

 

While videos are great they'll often throw things at you that you'll forget quickly if you don't put it in to practice soon after learning it or they will present information for which you will have no context so recalling the information will be spotty. The best way to learn Linux is to come up with a project and research the steps needed to accomplish it. When we want to get administrators comfortable with Linux we set tasks for them to work on so they're not aimlessly poking around. If you just log in to a Linux box without a goal you might learn some basic commands but they'll have no context and you'll miss a lot... You'll also have no clue what to look up since you don't know what you don't know.

 

Project ideas could be something like "setup a software firewall for my home," "build a webserver from the ground up and install Wordpress from an archive," "set up a mail server using postfix/dovecot," etc etc etc. If you're working towards a goal the things you learn along the way will have context and you'll actually be practicing them as well.

[ZephrFish]

depends on what you're wanting to learn linux for? A general OS, or to be a sys admin or for security or a new thing? There are lots of great tutorials out there and to be 100% honest some of the best tutorials are in text, check out reddit.com/r/linux and also http://www.linux.com/learn/tutorials/784060-the-complete-beginners-guide-to-linux. If you are more wanting command line stuff look here https://www.reddit.com/r/Linux4Noobs

and here:
http://lifehacker.com/5778882/getting-started-with-linux-the-complete-guide

[Zuikaku]

Can you clarify what you mean by "learn linux"?

Do you mean getting comfortable using the terminal interface and slightly adjusted UI? Do you mean adjusting to the file system or specific build components?
Or do you mean actually learning how to take apart your kernel and recompile your own system tailored to your specifications?

 

For just installing Linux onto a machine and using it for everyday work and whatnot, Ubuntu is commonly regarded as the easiest, simple, entry-level version that looks most like Windows and behaves most like windows. Gnome is a bit more abstracted from Windows, but behaves very similarly.
From there, you can actually use the Desktop/Taskbar like you would Windows, by dragging and dropping and managing windows and whatnot. Or you can bring up a terminal, which works just like the Windows Command Prompt, except more helpful and more powerful. From there, the "man" (short for manual) or "help" commands should get you where you want to be. Things like "cd" (for change directory), "ls" (list) and "pwd" (print working directory) are some basic navigational tools, and most things can be opened by either referencing the name (e.g. "./hello" for the program called "hello") or using a recommended program.

 

For me, it was just a case of using it for various little everyday things like writing articles in an editor and transferring to online, or doing various assignments and coursework projects in a different environment, etc. The biggest obstacle to overcome is the fact that everything needs to be done and found manually. You can't just double-click an unknown file extension and have the machine suggest a program to open it with; you need to find yourself what program you want, apt-get the necessary package, install, and then run it. @omniomi is absolutely right that you need to be immersed in it to really get it to stick.

 

For now, if you're completely new, my recommendation is to just download a virtual image of an OS from the Ubuntu webpage or the Gnome directory, and then download VirtualBox; that'll help you set up a small virtual machine you can run within a Windows environment so that you can reference any materials you need. From there, just have a mess around and see where you end up.