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#1 2019-05-06 15:53:14

sophia
Member
Registered: 2018-07-10
Posts: 5

Bit overwhelmed; looking for some general learning Linux advice

Hey,

So I have been using Linux exclusively for about two years now - Arch for almost as long although I spent some time hopping around at first trying different distribution out. Now that I have my system running without many issues - the only real issue I still have to tackle is the artifacts left in my dock due to Nvidia proprietary drivers (although I guess there's not too much I can do about that except ditch Nvidia) - I would really like to start learning a bit more about how all these pieces fit together beyond just learning what I deal with on a daily basis. I see folks on here giving great advice to people, and all I can do is wonder "how did they come to know all of this!" I can't help anyone with anything beyond that which I've done myself - for instance, dual-booting with Windows AFTER installing Linux - but I'd really like to strive to start working towards a more comprehensive understanding of Linux - if that makes sense? So I can also help newbies bridge that gap between getting started and flailing to at least having a system which is relatively stable. Also, just for personal enrichment.

Anyway, what blogs, books, websites, or otherwise can you all recommend to someone in my situation? I feel overwhelmed with all that is out there. Everything is either super duper beginner based or it's way-way-way over my head and I don't know where to even start learning about those things. If you all have any advice I would greatly appreciate it. I took the advice of a friend and just jumped in - and that was incredibly valuable advice; however, it seems some of the upper-level stuff requires more dedicated study - especially the stuff you don't deal with on a daily basis as a basic user (like GRUB issues for example). I hope I'm making sense LOL

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#2 2019-05-06 16:04:04

ewaller
Administrator
From: Pasadena, CA
Registered: 2009-07-13
Posts: 19,740

Re: Bit overwhelmed; looking for some general learning Linux advice

I always recommend working through Linux From Scratch
http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/

But, don't just copy and paste.  Research and understand what each command does and understand why it is being used.

Last edited by ewaller (2019-05-06 16:04:54)


Nothing is too wonderful to be true, if it be consistent with the laws of nature -- Michael Faraday
Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of who do the things no one can imagine. -- Alan Turing
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How to Ask Questions the Smart Way

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#3 2019-05-07 13:18:48

sophia
Member
Registered: 2018-07-10
Posts: 5

Re: Bit overwhelmed; looking for some general learning Linux advice

Thanks, ewaller. I've considered that, but I am a bit intimidated by it; although I do have a new SDD arriving next week which I was going to install few different systems onto so I could learn different flavours. Perhaps I'll just work to install LFS on it instead as it's totally separate from my other drives and I ought to be okay messing about it with it without destroying my more-or-less stable system wink

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#4 2019-05-07 13:24:50

2ManyDogs
Forum Moderator
Registered: 2012-01-15
Posts: 4,645

Re: Bit overwhelmed; looking for some general learning Linux advice

https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=238923

You can learn a lot just by reading the forum.


How to post. A sincere effort to use modest and proper language and grammar is a sign of respect toward the community.

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#5 2019-05-07 13:59:24

ewaller
Administrator
From: Pasadena, CA
Registered: 2009-07-13
Posts: 19,740

Re: Bit overwhelmed; looking for some general learning Linux advice

sophia wrote:

Thanks, ewaller. I've considered that, but I am a bit intimidated by it; although I do have a new SDD arriving next week which I was going to install few different systems onto so I could learn different flavours. Perhaps I'll just work to install LFS on it instead as it's totally separate from my other drives and I ought to be okay messing about it with it without destroying my more-or-less stable system wink

Yeah, I would not use it for a daily driver; only as a learning tool.  It also can be done inside of a virtual machine.


Nothing is too wonderful to be true, if it be consistent with the laws of nature -- Michael Faraday
Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of who do the things no one can imagine. -- Alan Turing
---
How to Ask Questions the Smart Way

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#6 2019-05-07 14:26:50

V1del
Forum Moderator
Registered: 2012-10-16
Posts: 21,427

Re: Bit overwhelmed; looking for some general learning Linux advice

There was a similar thread for this a while ago: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=225595

I echo the notion that you will learn a lot by reading the forums. If you have a general interest in how things work, look at the problems/solutions people have here. If you see something that sounds weird/interesting try to "solve" it yourself by checking the wiki/man pages (these are very often overlooked and often contain a wealth of information)/searching the web, even if you yourself aren't running into the problem/using the software in question. You don't necessarily have to be able to provide the answer immediately, but going through the process of finding information on a particular topic will usually provide you with bits and pieces of things that can be reused afterwards.

And read changelogs of the software you use, that way you'll be informed if something changes sometimes even if there's something that has a known potential for regressions. That way you will be prepared when a new package lands in the repos.

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#7 2019-05-08 06:39:18

edgy
Banned
Registered: 2019-05-05
Posts: 22

Re: Bit overwhelmed; looking for some general learning Linux advice

Not sure my comment is worthwhile but being quite new to the forums.

The best way to learn from forums is not exactly by reading but by actually participating.

You could obviously learn a lot from just reading the forums but that's not exactly the best way to do it, in fact, you'll quite probably routinely get bored.

Last edited by edgy (2019-05-08 06:40:55)

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#8 2019-05-09 17:13:29

sophia
Member
Registered: 2018-07-10
Posts: 5

Re: Bit overwhelmed; looking for some general learning Linux advice

Thanks all for the replies and advice. I do follow why it is beneficial to just browse the forums; I think I may try to do that as well as the LFS (the SDD arrived today so I can mess about now without worrying about specific VM issues clouding the learning process or without messing up my daily system). Perhaps I'll pick a topic per week and work through it. I was, for a little bit, using the LPIC rubrics to guide my study; however, if you're not actually working towards the test I found it to be too slow of a pace to keep my interest.

Thanks again for the advice. I'll work to be a bit more active on here - perhaps helping out when I can - or otherwise just trying to absorb some good knowledge while I wrestle with LFS ;P

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#9 2019-05-09 18:26:40

Alad
Wiki Admin/IRC Op
From: Bagelstan
Registered: 2014-05-04
Posts: 2,407
Website

Re: Bit overwhelmed; looking for some general learning Linux advice


Mods are just community members who have the occasionally necessary option to move threads around and edit posts. -- Trilby

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#10 2019-09-12 03:56:31

rlared
Member
From: Philadelphia, PA
Registered: 2019-09-12
Posts: 2

Re: Bit overwhelmed; looking for some general learning Linux advice

Oooo that's fantastic, thank you!

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#11 2019-12-09 21:27:45

dynosaw
Member
Registered: 2018-07-12
Posts: 26

Re: Bit overwhelmed; looking for some general learning Linux advice

Sophia,
My 2-cents contribution for what it's worth..
Two very useful books on my shelf are Study Guides
for the LPIC (I had no intention of taking the exam;
but they're handy reference works to get you started.

"LPIC-1 Study Guide" by Roderick W. Smith,
  Publisher: John Wiley  ISBN: 978-1-118-49563-6

"LPIC-2 Study Guiide" by C. Bresnahan and R. Blum
  Publisher: Sybex (Wiley)  ISBN978-1-119-15079-4

Note also that the O'Reilly company publishes an
awful lot of useful books on linux <http://oreilly.com>
with specialis pocket guides on subjects lile Bash,
SED and C. I found them worth the money.
[BTW I've been retired for som years and have no
commercial interest in any of these products.]

Hope this helps
Dynosaw.
--

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