linuxgeek: Re: [LINUX_Newbies] How to learn Linux

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Re: [LINUX_Newbies] How to learn Linux

On 02/25/2016 03:24 PM, J dreadpiratejeff@gmail.com [LINUX_Newbies] wrote:
> On Thu, Feb 25, 2016 at 12:54 PM, Michael Sullivan
> msulli1355@gmail.com [LINUX_Newbies] <LINUX_Newbies@yahoogroups.com>
> wrote:
> > This seems like a VERY general question, and I've probably lost about
> > half of you, but this is something I very much would like to know. I've
> > found hundreds of websites offering tutorials for how to learn Linux,
> > but every one of them give a tiny bit of information and no clear step
> > how to continue. Basically, I'm at point A. I want to get to point C,
> > but have no clear idea where point B is. I have been using Gentoo since
> > 2005, but not because it's the "expert" distribution. I use it because
> > it's fairly easy to find software that works with my hardware. I
> > started using Gentoo shortly after I got the PC I'm typing this message
> > on. I seem to have problems all the time, and I'd very much like to
> > learn how to solve them myself. I'm the type that would rather do
> > without than beg for help from strangers normally, but I feel like I'm
> > ALWAYS having problems with Gentoo. I need help, and not a handout. I
> > need a hand-up. Can anyone recommend a (free) website or book series to
> > help me reach my goal: not to be a noob anymore?
> > -Michael Sullivan-
>
> You're not the Michael Sullivan who worked on a PhD at Carnegie Mellon
> are you?

No. If he's got a PhD, then he's got a LOT more patience than I do. I
am working on the patience thing though.
>
> IN any case, if you want to learn it, you have to use it. And try
> different distributions. I'd suggest Fedora, OpenSuSE and Ubuntu to
> start. Run them in VMs, it's the easiest way to learn them.

I agree that to learn to do something, I have to do it. Unfortunately
for me, my conditioning works against me and I have had a VERY difficult
time overcoming it. My parents taught me, "If at first you don't
succeed, accept that you're Inferior and give up." This has been
extremely unhelpful to me, but I can't seem to reject it.
>
> As for me, I'm completely self-taught. No books or classes or
> anything, so my perspective is a bit different. I turned a hobby into
> a career and learned the most by screwing things up accidentally then
> having to research and ask how to fix them.

See my paragraph above. The Internet has made it much easier to learn
things than it used to be. The problem with the Internet is that there
is simply too much out there and I have a difficult time staying focused
on the idea I start with. I discovered this Apache problem yesterday.
It amazes me that now, twenty-four hours later, I'm still working on it.
I'm not happy that it's not solved, but then again it's nobody's job
to keep ME happy. Rather I'm impressed that a single idea was important
enough to me to hold onto it this long.
> So I can't recommend a website or books or anything like that.
> Personally, there is just no substitute for experience if you want to
> really understand an OS. So just ask questions, that's what this
> group is for (and it's usually responsive). For more in depth
> discussions or questions, there is the other group:
> linux@yahoogroups.com. A bunch of us are members of both groups, but
> may or may not have time to respond immediately.
>
> Also, Ubuntu, Fedora and OpenSuSE have their own communities, forums
> and mailing lists that are also great places to ask questions and
> learn.
>
> Finally, if you really want a book, Running Linux from O'Reilly was a
> good general one (there may be others, I dont know).
> http://shop.oreilly.com/product/9780596007607.do
>
> Anyway, hope that helps,
>
> Jeff
As for running other distros in a VM, I mentioned in the other thread
that I bought this machine new in 2005. It is 32-bit. I have an eight
GB flash drive plugged into the USB port all the time that I use as swap
space. At one time I had virtualbox installed and running, but even if
it's still installed and still working, I highly doubt that I would have
enough RAM to run it, and at the same time a web browser to look up all
the stuff that I would need to look up. A long time ago my parents had
me declared legally mentally disabled. I am not, but for many years I
tried to be. This effected my concentration (as you've probably already
deduced from my posts). I do not work. My wife works, and I attempt to
be as thrifty as possible, trying to be as little of a financial problem
as I possibly can. As a result, I seek out free and almost free
alternatives as often as possible. I used to be a computer science
student, I have about fifty computer science and programming related
books, but unfortunately, they're all over 10 - 15+ years old. I hope
you'll still be willing to advise me even knowing all this. Thank you
for your help so far, and any you might give me in the future.
-Michael Sullivan-