How to learn Linux?

[zipteye]

Forget books. Set up a system that you can break and not have to worry about losing anything important.

I have never touched a Linux book.

Or go ahead and break it.
Then crap your pants and look on the web or come back here on a different computer for help.

I'll never forget the time I locked out my permissions to the entire file system on my old iMac. (Darwin Unix, Cshell).
The poor thing wouldnt even boot.
Found a IRC channel on a different computer and someone saved my butt.

Good times!

Also... learn how to install programs from source (Which I had forgotten how to do when I downloaded Ubuntu recently.)
It was a common thing with Darwin unfortunately.

./configure
make
sudo make install


Check out the Ubuntu pocket guide book thats a free pdf.
Someone posted a link here. Somewhere...

[SebSmith]

Thank you all soooo much. i can not even begin to describe my gratitude. i am proud to run linux and proud to be part of this community.

[Hexley]

I will say that these are my favourite books:

Running Linux 5th edition (or if there is a newer one)
Linux in a nutshell 6th edition (or newer)
Linux bible (this one just shows you how to install different distros and some will follow on a dvd and cd)

It's totally worth it, good luck.

[rg4w]

One of my favorite ways to learn Linux is to read these forums.

Almost every day I log in and review the most recent posts - any time I see something that I don't know the answer to and sounds like it might be useful to me down the road (which is often for me <g>), I read the thread to learn what I can from it.

This forum is an amazing resource.

[kaldor]

well idk anything about linux except terminal is used for commands. i was a proficient xp user and id like to be a proficient ubuntu user. i want to learn your entire list!!

First off, experiment with some distros. To get a decent grasp of how Linux distros work install Virtualbox. Virtualbox essentially an OS emulator. Just mount the downloaded .iso and you're good to go

I recommend installing openSUSE, Fedora and Debian in a Virtual Machine; they're major distros and learning the querks of each will help in the longrun.

Also, get used to using the Terminal. When you need to copy/paste/move/rename files, use commands; it'll familiarize you with the directory layout as well as the commands.

Or, if you're really adventurous, try Linux from Scratch

None of this will turn you into a power user, but it should help you get a grasp of the OS. And another hint of advice for learning is to not use Windows when you find something difficult. When I started Linux, I got rid of Windows completely and basically forced myself to learn workarounds to issues and such.

Good luck