books on Linux

[john rosswrock]

hello everyone,
i m new to linux and don't know much about linux. Can anyone suggest any books that i should read so as to gain some knowledge.

note:
i know many will laugh when they read this message ....but plz do help me...

[TheFu]

hello everyone,
i m new to linux and don't know much about linux. Can anyone suggest any books that i should read so as to gain some knowledge.

note:
i know many will laugh when they read this message ....but plz do help me...

Linux in a Nutshell http://www.amazon.com/Linux-Nutshell.../dp/0596154488 , but there are a wide range of reasons people want or need to learn linux and that book is not designed for non-technical people.

If you let us know more about your end-goals, perhaps someone could provide better options?
* Are you a programmer? Which languages?
* Are you an end-user and just need to know enough to print, scan, and email?
* Are you a Windows admin?
* Are you hoping to earn a living from this new knowledge?
* Are you looking for a new hobby?
* Ham operator?
* Are you a computer nerd or not?

I'd have different suggestions for each of these.

It would also be good to know exactly which version of Linux you are running. I'd assume some sort of Ubuntu, since you are posting here, but are you using the plain Ubuntu with Unity, Mate, KDE, LXDE, XFCE, or a pure-window manager GUI?

The sad truth is that most books are out of date before they are printed. Linux is extremely fast changing. Most of the good information is online or not printed into paper books. The only books that hold a little value tend to be for enterprise Linux users and those mostly cover the commercial Linux distros like RHEL.

If you are overwhelmed by all this ... might I suggest the "Ubuntu Guide":http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu_Precise . HTML and eBook versions are free.

Another great way to get help to learn Linux is to find and join your local LUG - Linux Users Group. Google will help. There you can get one-on-one help with your specific problems from someone close by, a personal touch.

[tlhIngan]

I don't have any books to recommend, but Google is always my best resource for information when I'm stuck. There's just so much to learn, especially coming from a Windows or Mac OS system, you might as well just learn as you go, that's what most people around here do.
Ubuntu is much more user-friendly than linux systems used to be 15 years ago. You may wish to download a liveCD, which will allow you to play around with the system without actually installing anything onto your hard drive or messing anything up.
Ubuntu 12.04 is the version I recommend as a starting point.
Here's the download page.

[oldos2er]

i know many will laugh when they read this message ....but plz do help me...

You weren't born knowing everything about Linux? Wait, neither was I! No one's laughing because we've all been there before.

For Ubuntu-specific info, use the online Ubuntu documentation:

https://help.ubuntu.com/

For more general Linux info see http://www.linux.org/

[drawkcab]

http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu_Quantal

^^^Working through this guide will help a lot. There's a separate guide for 12.04 and other releases.

Honestly, most of the stuff you need to know is online. If it's in a book, it's likely obsolete.

There are also some great videos on youtube that will give you an overview of ubuntu.

The main thing is to maintain an experimental attitude. Install different distros, desktop environments, applications and play around with the command line. If I could give my younger self any piece of advice it would be to maintain my data on a separate /home partition so that I would feal more securing playing around with my installation.

You'll pick everything up fairly quickly.

[oldrocker99]

You weren't born knowing everything about Linux? Wait, neither was I! No one's laughing because we've all been there before.

Amen, my friend, amen

[john rosswrock]

Linux in a Nutshell http://www.amazon.com/Linux-Nutshell.../dp/0596154488 , but there are a wide range of reasons people want or need to learn linux and that book is not designed for non-technical people.

If you let us know more about your end-goals, perhaps someone could provide better options?
* Are you a programmer? Which languages?
* Are you an end-user and just need to know enough to print, scan, and email?
* Are you a Windows admin?
* Are you hoping to earn a living from this new knowledge?
* Are you looking for a new hobby?
* Ham operator?
* Are you a computer nerd or not?

I'd have different suggestions for each of these.

It would also be good to know exactly which version of Linux you are running. I'd assume some sort of Ubuntu, since you are posting here, but are you using the plain Ubuntu with Unity, Mate, KDE, LXDE, XFCE, or a pure-window manager GUI?

The sad truth is that most books are out of date before they are printed. Linux is extremely fast changing. Most of the good information is online or not printed into paper books. The only books that hold a little value tend to be for enterprise Linux users and those mostly cover the commercial Linux distros like RHEL.

If you are overwhelmed by all this ... might I suggest the "Ubuntu Guide":http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu_Precise . HTML and eBook versions are free.

Another great way to get help to learn Linux is to find and join your local LUG - Linux Users Group. Google will help. There you can get one-on-one help with your specific problems from someone close by, a personal touch.

i just have switched over from windows to linux completely...and the main reason is that i want to work in networking and my collage prof. said that" linux is the best to learn in networking and ubuntu is simple enough if anyone wants to know linux"..

note:
os:ubuntu 12.10(installed on the whole harddisk )
knowledge:c and c++ programming
and thanx for the help

[john rosswrock]

You weren't born knowing everything about Linux? Wait, neither was I! No one's laughing because we've all been there before.

For Ubuntu-specific info, use the online Ubuntu documentation:

https://help.ubuntu.com/

For more general Linux info see http://www.linux.org/

thanx ...i thought that i should have some prior knowledge of ubuntu if i wanted to switch to it

[mörgæs]

http://ubuntu-manual.org/

[oldos2er]

thanx ...i thought that i should have some prior knowledge of ubuntu if i wanted to switch to it

Create a Live USB or LiveDVD, you can play with it to your heart's content without installing.

http://www.ubuntu.com/download/help/...dvd-on-windows

http://www.ubuntu.com/download/help/...ick-on-windows