Hi all,
I am using Linux distro’s for more than 18 years now and I feel I am still a beginner, especially when I ask a question here and get instructions in answers filled with all bells and whistles needed to get just what you need.
I wonder, where do you learn(ed) all that. Did you take courses, do you just search the internet and write down answers in your special book? When the latter, what are good websites?
What do you do?
I am so jealous about this, and also angry (to myself) that I don’t know this.
Please give me info about the best way to learn Linux.
I write this in the Water Cooler section, I hope this is correct. If not please feel free to move it to a better place, as long as it is not the garbage bin.
my brain over the years became covered with teflon, nothing sticks to it
i mostly depend on forums to get the information i need
one does learn a thing or two, to forget one or two things quite often
practice does help to make sort of more permanent the knowledge, but for example make partitions, if you dont reinstall a pc often, you forget that, you might remember the concept, but you will forget specific important details
practice and ask those who did studied linux is invaluable for people like me
For a deep dive on the internal of the linux kernel you will find https://lwn.net a great site.
For command line tools I picked things up over the years, reading the man pages provides a great reference.
Are you comfortable with the command line?
Yes, I do keep notes when I see something cool that I know I need in the future, but will forget.
I also keep all the config for my systems in an home hosted svn server.
Great way to keep track of why I changed the config and when the hardware fails I can rebuild from sources.
This is a 100% textbook perfect topic for “Water Cooler tech-talk” in my opinion
For me, a lot still comes from web searching, though it’s harder than it used to be with the amount of dubious AI-generated stuff. The Unix&Linux Stack Exchange site is still pretty good, although it’s for all distros so you need a bit of review to understand if the answer is going to work for Fedora.
Specific package documentation, and particularly man pages, are very useful for understanding the specifics.
I write a lot down in my notes application (Trilium Notes in my case, but Joplin, Obsidian etc do the same kind of thing) so it’s searchable and findable.
I’ve heard that the book “How Linux Works” is very good, but to be honest I haven’t got round to reading it, I tend to get absorbed in a particular problem and working out how to fix it.
Stepping back a bit, I’d say that in terms of Linux and broader programming skills, a really important aspect is a kind of self-confident mindset. When I say “self-confident”, I don’t mind overestimating your expertise, but having a firm belief that “the system behaves like it does for a reason, and if I investigate it methodically, I will step-by-step eventually get to the reason and be able to fix it”.
It’s natural not to have this mindset at the start, because Linux (or any other system) is complicated and it’s easy to feel intimidated like you’ll never make progress.
A good way to start is: rather than trying to learn everything at once, pick one problem you care about, and work methodically to really understand it.
I got involved with Unix before Linux was invented. My father-in-law had an ATT 3B, at work we had a Wicat. I learned from AT&T Bell Labs papers starting with https://dsf.berkeley.edu/cs262/unix.pdf.
tinker with it, use a traditional system (no ostree), and don’t be afraid to break it. Nowadays it’s so much easier and also 1000x more difficult at the same time.
It’s easier because documentation and access is so much better, you can create a VM in a matter of seconds and of you go.
it’s more difficult because the eco system around unix with all their DEs, frameworks and whatever multiplied 1000x in last three decades.
Use a spare system and install only an minimal system, and try to build / configure things on your own. That’s how you learn the most.
Maybe try running Linux Slackware or FreeBSD / NetBSB.
I made my first UNIX experience with a student login at UNI on a HP-UX 9(?) E45 system
( must have been 1991/92). followed soon with access to Sun sparc systems running SunOS.
1st linux install on my brother’s 486 system was probably kernel 0.9x installed from 3x something HD floppies. Can’t remember the exact linux kernel version. Must have been the DLD or maybe Slackware distribution.
But I did prefer NetBSD back then, because it always(!) had complete and up-to date man pages, not like linux at that time, and it had much better HW support for my 68040 system.
Despite having used Linux off and on since the late 90s, I don’t feel like I’ve ever really understood the deep down workings. These days, it seems even more complicated than before.
One resource I’ve found useful is Learn Linux TV (he has a website and YouTube channel). He does a good job explaining things, such as some terminal command, and how to use it. Unfortunately, if you don’t use it, you kind of forget.
I know someone else noted above how you need to try using it to learn. IMHO, I think things are so easy these days, I have even less reason to dive into stuff than I did in the wayback times when I was running something like Slackware. To be fair, I’m not suggesting that was better. I am old enough that I appreciate things just working. I want to learn more, but I don’t want to have to learn more (if that makes sense).
Anyway, long, rambling post for: check out Learn Linux TV.
I learned Linux back in 1995 when I bought a book that came with a CD and I installed Slackware on my 486. Had to install the X window system myself by writing the config file to match the specifications of my graphics card and monitor. Things have changed a lot since then…
These days things are quite a bit different. Sometimes I can come here and get answers when I have an issue. Otherwise my computer genius son is the one who figures things out.
Sometimes you can find information on the online Linux forums…
