What do I do now?

[Mike128]

Hey all, being new here I wasn't sure if this is the right place for this thread but hopefully I won't be too badly scolded if I got it wrong :)

So last night I finally got round to partitioning my hardrive and installing Ubuntu on my PC. I'm not a computer idiot, I'd say I'm pretty capable but there were little challenges and things to pick up here and there and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and was happy with the result. The thing is now that I have it all set up I'm not entirely sure what it is I wanted to do with it. I think I did it more for the learning process involved than the end result.

I guess what I had in mind for this stage was the idea of learning how it all works (at least to a reasonable level) and going from there. I'm not some jack-*** either who thinks I'm going to be a programming god and hack the planet, I'd just like to be make little scripts and things that are a mix of useful and kinda cool.

So what I'm asking really is does anyone have any guides or anything to recommend or thoughts as to what I can try and do?

[crlang13]

Have you taken a look at the pocket guide?

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1052065

It might give you some ideas of where to start. Most of that stuff is pretty basic, but you have to start somewhere.

Hang out around here, you may get some ideas. Hang out in the programming threads and you may be inspired to start learning a language, then another, then another :p

[Mike128]

Yeah I just downloaded that :)

I was thinking of trying to make something that could either solve equations or find the nth value of a number pattern or something so I'll lurk the programming boards like you suggest and see if I can spot someone whose brain I might pick.

[crlang13]

What's your programming background?

What you're describing is a good way to start learning about programming principles. Everyone here will have a different idea of the "best" language to start learning on. Threads pop up all the time about the "best" programming language. Maybe start a thread about what you want to do programming wise and go from there :p

[NightwishFan]

I am not so great at programming, and I got the gist of Python pretty well. I doubt it is the best, but Ubuntu uses it a lot and it was fun.
http://www.onecore.net/how-topython-programming-under-ubuntu.htm

[vnc]

Visit your nearest college library, then rent and read books. Read them with attention to details. The interesting questions will come up and then you just have to act on them. Have fun.

Assuming interests similar to mine I would: avoid Linux or programming books and startby reading up on general operating systems principles and networking. Learning A langage before you have somthing to use it for is in my experience a recipe for disaster. Then read Knuth.

[NightwishFan]

Also here:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=801404

[Mike128]

I have some experience in Fortran, that's the only language I've used really. I did have a quick browse in the library yesterday whilst I was picking up other books but I wasn't really sure what I was looking for so I left it.

On a difficulty scale of one to ten how hard would it be, in your honest opinions, to create a programme that calculated the entropy of a system? The equation for entropy is pretty simple and only a few inputs are needed.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/math/b/c/5/bc5ad0dda38f84fd499b8fd2fb09ff10.png
Where Kb is the Boltzman constant and omega the number of states. All it'd have to do is calculate the number of states to compute the entropy, and the calculations for the number of states are all pretty simple.

So in theory all this programme would have to do is the following:
1) ask what kind of system it's working with
2) read in certain variables
3) compute omega
4) compute the Entropy
5) print results

Is this an overly ambitious first project? I think i could probably manage it in fortran with a bit of thinking so, assuming functions like logs are built in to languages like python, I think it'd be a good way to learn syntax and everything.

(P.S. you're all being far more helpful than I expected, thank you)

[vnc]

That should be easy. Takig logs won't be a problem with any langage that I can think of, but since you seem to know what you're doing, you could compute a few terms of the Taylor expansion yourself, and then pick up a numerical analysis book.

[crlang13]

If you're into fortran, check out MATLAB. I've never done anything in fortran but i hear they're similar. I use MATLAB alot for engineering and I hear it's used alot in physics as well.

I play around on www.projecteuler.net (http://www.projecteuler.net) sometimes too, which has a ton of mathematical programming challenges to get you started.

I've found MATLAB was a good way for me to start learning about algorithms and the like before moving on to more complex and interactive stuff.

[Mike128]

I've used matlab a lot on my course, I could probably do what I wanted in there first to check my methodology (I would use fortran but I'd have to compile it on campus which is an effort).

Thanks for the link too, I'll have a looksie at that

[clancymf]

Start playing with the various different programs:

Build a media center and karaoke machine with
- XMBC

play with Kdenlive to make movies

Use the various space programs to search the galaxy

Make music with hydrogen

The fun comes from searching throuhg all the programs (in software center or synatic) that are a click away