How many/much time do I need to be an Ubuntu admin

[fatharraxman]

I started using Ubuntu for one much, I observed that I need more time to master this masterpiece OS, I want to know when will I stop asking simple and basic questions, if you are a computer geek, tell me how much it take from you to stop asking, and start answering on the forum,I mean you may spend a lot of time discovering the system if you are not a past master in other OS
I spend all the time on the screen, during my work I connect the phone to my netbook and my friends if they wanna contact me the got to send me through Ubuntu forums, they stopped emailing me because I have no time to open my email.
still am not sure. I just wanna real experiences to feel some ease :D
So tell me how much it takes from you to be an Ubuntu master, geek, forum admin, developer, or any something good at Ubuntu OS, how many hours do you work daily on Ubuntu, if a computer IT, or a regular user
I appreciate any reply, any how thank you

[undecim]

I spend a ridiculous amount of time working with Ubuntu. I'm at the point that I consider myself a power user. I know a lot but I'm still learning more every day.

How long it takes you to learn depends on yourself. How well you learn, how much you decide to learn about a topic, how far you want your knowledge to extend, etc.

If I were you, I would start by practicing using the terminal. Stop using the GUI for everything and learn how to do it in the terminal (even if you have to Google it first)

The #ubuntu channel on freednode is handy. I have it saved in pidgin so I can get in there within just a few seconds if I have a question.

Just keep practicing, reading, and asking questions. You'll keep learning more and more every day. It won't be long before you can rock the console like an admin.

[slackthumbz]

The best advice I would offer is this: Learn the command line, learn bash, learn ssh, learn about the files in the /etc and how to manually edit them, learn about run levels and the init.d, learn symbolic links, learn one of the better modal text editors, I use VIM but I know a lot of people that swear by EMACS (I tend to swear at EMACS).

Learn the system internals. Set up a server in a VM and ssh to it locally. Then administrate the entire thing via the console. It's a learning curve but it's worth every minute for the insight and familiarity you will gain with the system internals.

Never be afraid to ask for help and always remember that any problem you come across will likely have been solved by someone else and that solution will be posted online.

If you want to be a mechanic, you need to understand the mechanism.

[fatharraxman]

Thank you very much for your help
But the replies did not help me very much
I mean I wanna know about you geeks, the stories you tell may inspire me and a lot of novices and newbies , yes I started CLI and now familiar with terminal prompt and bash and also started python, and I am om IRC #ubuntu and such stuffs :p
but

I wana your own suffers and success tales
1- When did you start Ubuntu?
2- How much time you were doing on it at begining?
3- How many books you gulped
4- what was your previous distro?
5- and so on
Tell us yor story, we will be powered by these endeavores
:-({|=

[cariboo]

How much time did it take you to learn all you know about Windows? Using any OS you will always be learning something new.

I've been using a Linux variant since 1998, I don't have any problems repairing 99% of the problems I run into, but I still learn something new almost daily.

[forrestcupp]

You can't just throw out a blanket estimate. I became fairly proficient with Ubuntu within a few months, however, my grandma probably couldn't even learn how to have Ubuntu automatically install proprietary drivers in a hundred years. ;)

[madjr]

to be good in linux, you need to try out stuff.

test out distros.

test or compile new programs / shells.

Read blogs, forums and "full circle magazine".

take courses if you want to be more.

its not that hard, as long as you like playing with all the goodies.

[misfitpierce]

I've been using a linux variant since 2003. Picked up Ubuntu in early 2005 I believe. Found out about Ubuntu from Artificial Intelligence I think who had posted on Mandriva forums and I decided to give Ubuntu a try and fell in love with it. I can fix 99.9% of things I hit. Even fixed computer that started up one time and you couldnt see what you were even typing in terminal and got graphics running. It all takes time but for me I got the jest of it in about 2 months I pretty much got everything down pat. It all depends on the person though. Just stick with it and try building packages yourself instead of getting pre-built ones and stuff like that and itll help you get even more commands and terminal use under your belt. Granted you dont need terminal much anymore its still good to know all the commands and get everything down locked just incase you run into any problem you'll be ready to tackle it!

[Gremlinzzz]

I learned Ubuntu from the great Linux master.
GOOGLE!

[Liverbones]

Honestly, I started using Linux in... early 2008. I had just recently bought a new laptop (the one I'm on right now, actually! :)) which came with Windows Vista pre-installed. I had been generally disillusioned with Microsoft for some time at that point, mostly using Apple products until I could no longer easily afford a new laptop. After running Vista for a few weeks, I was practically fuming with hatred for it, even moreso than I had experienced using the previous Microsoft offerings (which is saying something). So, being generally familiar with Unix, I decided I'd give this crazy little thing called "Linux" a try. I immediately hit the internet and searched for user-friendly Linux distributions, and lo and behold... there was the Hardy Heron.

I downloaded the ISO and promptly booted my laptop into the live desktop, and I have to tell you: I was seriously impressed. Casper had me captivated. The power to be able to run a full desktop off of a single CD... not even a DVD! Very, very compelling. Soon enough, I had Hardy installed, and things were generally looking quite dandy, except for a few little hiccups here and there (including having to install Windows wireless drivers through NDISWrapper), but those were all minor cuts in comparison to the hemorrhage that was Windows.

Fast-forward a couple of years, and I have some distribution of Linux on all of my computers. Even my wife, not technically-inclined, loves using it on her own laptop. Now, I haven't swallowed any books in the process, but I have read a lot of threads on these forums, and did a lot of searching to help me with my particular issues; and as such, I've become quite well-versed in those things which have retained my interest over the past couple of years. It's really been quite a wonderful journey, and I've happily converted a few others to the Linux world myself (my own small contribution :)).

But it took me a few months to really feel almost 100% comfortable using nothing but Linux. Another six months or so, and everything was gravy. So I'd say it took me a good year to really get to a power-user level; I still wouldn't call myself an "admin" or "guru" of any operating system, although there are some people I know who might argue differently. :)

But the point is, really, that for the most part, you'll become proficient in those things that directly affect or interest you. Depending on what those are, and how deeply you wish to know about things, you may get to a very comfortable level far more quickly than I have.

And remember: there's always more to learn. That's what makes technology so darn fascinating. :)

[fatharraxman]

WOW
so many great story
You guys truthfully inspiring, I am very glad to read and reread your stories and I call for every one to share us this Ubuntu celebrating replies,
please tell us about you
Let us put our step in the wright pace
thank you great Ubuntu Users
:KS

[bouncingwilf]

I suppose it all depends on what you do with the beast as to how quickly you become proficient with it. If general browsing and light office duties are the limit of your needs, then I suspect it may be years, if ever, you're likely to become a "guru" However, if you're actively coding/hacking and generally trying to use the beast for more esoteric tasks, then you are much more likely to acquire a broader skill set in a shorter time frame. Then there's the age factor - 25 years ago, when I was an active developer and Unix sysadmin, all things were possible - now I think I'm forgetting faster than I'm learning! (but I catch a lot more fish!)


Bouncingwilf

[The Real Dave]

I'd like to start this off by saying I would by no means declare myself to be anywhere near an Ubuntu master. In fact, I'm very much just starting, and imagine that that feeling will last for the rest of my life.

To the questions;

1- When did you start Ubuntu?
About 2 or 3 years ago

2- How much time you were doing on it at beginning?
Seeing that when I first began with Ubuntu, that it was the only OS I had at the time, I spent all my time with it, 3-4 hours a day.

3- How many books you gulped
I've yet to read a Linux based book >.< However, I've digested a small library of forum posts, IRC chatter, and blogs, all in an endeavor to solve whatever issues I was having at the time.

4- what was your previous distro?
Ubuntu was the first distro I used consistently (I had played with DSL previously). I've since experimented and fallen in love with a multitude of distros from various Ubuntu and Debain bases, to Arch, Slackware, Knoppix etc etc.


As with all things in life, I've found the best way to learn is by experimenting. Push your limits a little each day, learn something do, try a new distro, try a new program, whatever. Try experiment, and have fun.


Eventually, enlightenment will bless you.

[wilee-nilee]

I really like the power user reference in a post that be windows talk Yar.

[kaldor]

Try using the Debian Sid branch. It's the unstable branch of Debian, and since Ubuntu is based on Debian you'll learn a lot more about the innards of the OS than by using Ubuntu.


1- When did you start Ubuntu?

Started with Ubuntu 7.10 about a month before 8.04 was released.

2- How much time you were doing on it at begining?

Used it almost exclusively alongside Windows XP. When I got a new laptop, I went full time Linux.

3- How many books you gulped

I have some old reference books, but I usually use Google/UF to answer questions.

4- what was your previous distro?

I started using computers with Windows 95 (<3 Netscape 4) and progressed through the ages until Vista. I bought a laptop and intended to Dual boot with Ubuntu/Vista for games, but it turned out all my games ran natively on Linux or had a Platinum rating on WINE. For some reason, I couldn't get them working properly on Vista so I got rid of it; never used Windows on a home PC since.

I have on and off "Distro Hopping" phases where I get bored of my OS and want to try new stuff. So far I've replaced Ubuntu with (I've used many more of these on LiveCDs and Virtualbox)...


openSUSE

PCLinux

Mandriva

Fedora

CentOS

Sabayon

OpenSolaris (Not Linux, had to remove due to lack of compatibility and performance)

Debian (Lenny, stable)

Linux Mint

LinuxMint Debian Edition


I'm still on LinuxMint Debian Edition because it suits what I want to do very well.

[cariboo]

1- When did you start Ubuntu?
I tried warty, but it wouldn't run on my hardware at the time. I really started using Ubuntu with 6.06

2- How much time you were doing on it at begining?
When I first started using Ubuntu it just plain worked, I probably only spent and hour or two a day using Ubuntu, as I was working a non-tech related job at the time, and was on call 24/7, since then, way to much.

3- How many books you gulped
countless

4- what was your previous distro?
Redhat, Mandrake, Debian, Xandros, PCLOS

[fatharraxman]

countless


cariboo907 (http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=77104) this honestly is inspiring, more, more ,more, more, more, tell us more about your linux( Beagle?) voyage please.
You too, great people hiding behind silence will only fuel the our deprivation of being like you(or try to)
share us your success story
tell us about you
every one please
;)











0try to(

[sandyd]

Thank you very much for your help
But the replies did not help me very much
I mean I wanna know about you geeks, the stories you tell may inspire me and a lot of novices and newbies , yes I started CLI and now familiar with terminal prompt and bash and also started python, and I am om IRC #ubuntu and such stuffs :p
but

I wana your own suffers and success tales
1- When did you start Ubuntu?
2- How much time you were doing on it at begining?
3- How many books you gulped
4- what was your previous distro?
5- and so on
Tell us yor story, we will be powered by these endeavores
:-({|=
1. 2006, the same year that I joined the forums
2. I played with it 2h/day due to my curiousity
3. None.
4. Im not using ubuntu right now. Although I started off using ubuntu, I switched to gentoo.
5. I learned most by experimenting on my computer. Even if you do screw it up, its fixable. (Well, not really. I screwed up glibc once :o and had to reinstall)
6. Using the terminal isn't hard. Im typing this from the terminal right now.
7. Its best to try everything out yourself; be curious and ask questions. Don't be afraid to think outside the box or to do things that you don't know of. Trying new things only increases your knowledge, even if you do screw up your computer.

[Snowhog]

The original question has no 'correct' answer. As has been said, the amount of time it takes one to become proficient using Linux (or any other OS) is entirely dependent on the users abilities and willingness to learn it. Myself, I've been using computers for decades. My first exposure was my mothers Apple ][ 2e (?). I taught myself how to use Basic to write a program to generate Dungeons and Dragons characters based on randomly generated roles of dice, using the rules from the D&D Characters Handbook. (yes, it was 'years' ago!).

My first personal PC was a Leading Edge 8Mhz 286 with a whopping 640K of RAM!! Those where the days (and I'm glad they "were" the days!).

I used Windows since 3.01 (?) up through Windows Vista. In 2007 I made the move to Linux - Kubuntu (no offense to Ubuntu users) Edgy Eft, and am currently running Maverick Meerkat. I too, am comfortable running Kubuntu Linux. I am by no means an expert, nor do I expect I ever will be. But I am way more than a 'turn key' user. I need to know (to some degree) how it works, and how to work with it. I never had that feeling with Windows. Linux provides me with the ability to 'control' to the degree that I learn how, my OS.

Linux rocks.

[fatharraxman]

This is a great story too
Thank you very much

[cariboo]

I actually printed Linux: Rute User's Tutorial and Exposition out, and have it sitting on my shelf, you can get it here (http://rute.2038bug.com/index.html.gz).

Also check out tldp.org (http://tldp.org/), there are many good howto's available.

Most major projects, Samba, Apache, Mysql, etc. have pretty good documentation available on their web sites.

I also found that helping out in the support sub-forums is a great way to learn, if you run into a question that interest you and you don't know the answer yourself, you can do a search and look up the answer yourself. Too many users limit themselves to finding answers on the forum, when there is a huge body of knowledge available at your fingertips using Google.

[fatharraxman]

Thank you very much for your help
But the replies did not help me very much
I mean I wanna know about you geeks, the stories you tell may inspire me and a lot of novices and newbies , yes I started CLI and now familiar with terminal prompt and bash and also started python, and I am om IRC #ubuntu and such stuffs :p
but
I wana your own suffers and success tales
1- When did you start Ubuntu?
2- How much time you were doing on it at begining?
3- How many books you gulped
4- what was your previous distro?
5- and so on
Tell us yor story, we will be powered by these endeavores
:-({|=

cariboo907 , I will read you issued Documents I am already on the sites you really did a great job, my question still how you became so great, is there any secrets? let us know tell us as if this is an interview, I believe that your bibliographies are helpful to many many people around the planet, and please if some one can change the title of his thread to be 'The stories of success are told here' I'll be grateful
Thank you again Master

[fatharraxman]

Thank you very much for your help
But the replies did not help me very much
I mean I wanna know about you geeks, the stories you tell may inspire me and a lot of novices and newbies , yes I started CLI and now familiar with terminal prompt and bash and also started python, and I am om IRC #ubuntu and such stuffs :p
but
I wana your own suffers and success tales
1- When did you start Ubuntu?
2- How much time you were doing on it at begining?
3- How many books you gulped
4- what was your previous distro?
5- and so on
Tell us yor story, we will be powered by these endeavores
:-({|=

cariboo907 , I will read what you issued Documents I am already on the sites you really did a great job, my question still how you became so great, is there any secrets? let us know tell us as if this is an interview, I believe that your bibliographies are helpful to many many people around the planet, and please if some one can change the title of his thread to be 'The stories of success are told here' I'll be grateful
Thank you again Master

[fatharraxman]

who will give us his story of success??

[lisati]

1- When did you start Ubuntu?
Approx. June 2007
2- How much time you were doing on it at beginning?
A lot.
3- How many books you gulped
I'm not sure that I "gulped" any Linux-specific books, but have a collection of computer-related books and magazines that I've accumulated over the years.
4- what was your previous distro?
Windows XP :)
5- and so on
I'm still learning, and there are many forum users who are able to answer a lot of Linux and Ubuntu questions way better than I can.
Some recent projects are hinted at in my forum sig.

[KiwiNZ]

1- When did you start Ubuntu?

From day one in 2004.

2- How much time you were doing on it at begining?

A lot as I was a foundation member /staff of these Forums

3- How many books you gulped

Too many to count as I needed them for qualifications.

4- what was your previous distro?

Redhat
Suse
Mandriva (Mandrake)
Yoper
Fedora
Slackware
Debian

5- and so on

And so forth