What Next?

Haptic · 2011-01-29 21:05:20

I finally got a successful installation of Arch Linux on virtualbox with nothing wrong for once. I installed some base programs and an AUR helper and everything seems to be running smoothly. What can I do now to familiarize myself with Linux? Despite having all this up, I still feel a bit clueless since all I'm doing is following directions on wiki.

nybegynner · 2011-01-29 21:10:29

enjoy your archlinux and be proud of it.

Ramses de Norre · 2011-01-29 21:10:50

Use it

litemotiv · 2011-01-29 21:15:24

Reading up on shell scripting would be a great next step.

lucke · 2011-01-29 22:58:39

Hack phrakture.

ngoonee · 2011-01-29 23:03:06

1. Try to do something (setup a local SMTP server maybe)
2. Break your system
3. Fix it without reinstalling (or running to the forums asking for help immediately)
4. Revel in your newfound google-fu
5. ..
6. ..
7. Profit!

pit · 2011-01-29 23:21:06

Familiarize with makepkg and basic compilation stuff - will save your life later

Thor@Flanders · 2011-01-30 17:14:18

Get familiar with pacman! A life saver at any time!

Last edited by Thor@Flanders (2011-01-30 17:15:33)

Awebb · 2011-01-30 17:30:12

1. Have no fear.
2. Install Arch on your computer, not just in a sandbox.
3. Use it every day.
4.1 Browse the forums for questions of others you have an answer for.
4.2 Browse the forums for quesions you don't know the answer for and do some research to find a solution. This will not only help you learning how the system works, it'll be a perfect contribution.

tomk · 2011-01-30 18:10:55

All very useful advice, if a bit obvious (no offense everyone ) - but if you're asking what next, I have to ask what were you expecting? Familiarising yourself with Linux is a bit vague - did you have anything specific in mind when you started out?

Zeist · 2011-01-30 18:49:09

Basically... do things that break it.

Almost everything I've learned about linux is from breaking my system and figuring out how to fix it.

Haptic · 2011-02-03 03:01:43

Well, I've been trying to get used to everything not running automatically and its quite overwhelming. I guess I was looking for the next logical step so that when I get my laptop, I can comfortably install Arch without any problems.

Now that I'm looking into the minimalistic wm instead of the full dm like gnome and kde, I find that I know less than what I thought I did...

What I don't understand from these suggestions is how do I deliberately break arch?

Xyne · 2011-02-03 03:38:51

Haptic wrote:

How do I deliberately break arch?

Ask Allan. He's the expert in this area.

I don't see the point in deliberately breaking your system. You will learn some things from fixing it, but I think you could find better ways to spend your time. Breakage will occur on its own. Deal with it then, instead of creating artificial problems.

If you want to "familiarize yourself with Linux", you should probably start using the command-line. Learn about the common commands (mv, cp, ln, grep, sed, find, sort, etc) and start learning about shell scripting. Use that to automate things that you commonly do. The point of the computer is to let you get stuff done, not waste your time trying to get it into a state that lets you do stuff.

You can also familiarize yourself with Arch-specific configuration files and system management tools (pacman, pacman.conf, rc.conf, rc.d/, etc).

It really depends on what you want to do. There isn't much point in learning Spanish if you're heading to Russia, or learning to scuba dive if you're going to the Sahara. You will naturally develop the skills that you require for whatever it is you're doing. Focus on that rather than the vague notion of becoming familiar with Linux.

Allan · 2011-02-03 04:06:31

Xyne wrote:

Haptic wrote:
How do I deliberately break arch?
Ask Allan. He's the expert in this area.

Well.... where to start?

If you know how you broke your system, you learn nothing by doing the reverse to repair it.

ngoonee · 2011-02-03 09:49:28

Haptic wrote:

What I don't understand from these suggestions is how do I deliberately break arch?

First time I've heard this . Most people break their installs trying something stupid, but like Allan said if you know what you did, repairing it is trivial.

Try to do more with your system than you usually do. Compile a minimal kernel. Try out nouveau if you're currently on nvidia. Run testing versions of whatever software you have (compiz 0.9, gnome3, firefox4, whatever).

Find some interesting software that's not in the repos/AUR and try to make a PKGBUILD for it.

Learn Ardour or Blender.

Possibilities are endless man

DKnight · 2011-02-03 23:17:58

Set up a LAMP server and mess with it.

rickdg · 2011-02-03 23:53:40

Grow a fear of cloud services and setup a mail server... I never quite managed this when I was younger and I don't have the time anymore to read up on it now. But I always found it fascinating for some reason.

nybegynner · 2011-04-25 19:53:32

Search for answers.

whoami && whatis "the meaning of life, universe and everything?"

You will be suprised.

hauzer · 2011-04-26 13:39:30

nybegynner wrote:

Search for answers.
whoami && whatis "the meaning of life, universe and everything?"
You will be suprised.

That's a good one!

Arch Linux

#1 2011-01-29 21:05:20

What Next?

#2 2011-01-29 21:10:29

Re: What Next?

#3 2011-01-29 21:10:50

Re: What Next?

#4 2011-01-29 21:15:24

Re: What Next?

#5 2011-01-29 22:58:39

Re: What Next?

#6 2011-01-29 23:03:06

Re: What Next?

#7 2011-01-29 23:21:06

Re: What Next?

#8 2011-01-30 17:14:18

Re: What Next?

#9 2011-01-30 17:30:12

Re: What Next?

#10 2011-01-30 18:10:55

Re: What Next?

#11 2011-01-30 18:49:09

Re: What Next?

#12 2011-02-03 03:01:43

Re: What Next?

#13 2011-02-03 03:38:51

Re: What Next?

#14 2011-02-03 04:06:31

Re: What Next?

#15 2011-02-03 09:49:28

Re: What Next?

#16 2011-02-03 23:17:58

Re: What Next?

#17 2011-02-03 23:53:40

Re: What Next?

#18 2011-04-25 19:53:32

Re: What Next?

#19 2011-04-26 13:39:30

Re: What Next?

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