Advice

[schmickel]

Hi all. I recently got around to installing both adipositas and professional on my Thinkpad, and chose professional because I wanted to start from scratch. I have a few books on linux and figured a text only install would keep me from getting distracted. I'm actually posting this from w3m right now, which is an accomplishment for me because I've never really messed around with text browsers. I think I like this one more than the others I've used, mostly because it's the only one I've been able to figure out without reading the manual. Anyway, I have several books, like I said. I'm currently reading How Linux Works: What Every Superuser Should Know by Brian Ward. I also plan on reading From Bash to Z Shell, which I got several years ago when I first started using linux. I never got around to reading it. I also have TLCL (The Linux Command Line). My question is which book should I start with? How Linux Works has a little on the shell, but does more of a big picture thing, and I really love zsh since I first used grml a few years back. I've been using linux off and on since 2009 but I've never learned the inner workings and want to become a power user.

[dkeg]

I actually haven't read much in the way of linux books. I'd say learning how the system works will automatically prove helpful no matter what you do. Creating scripts for solutions to things I wanted really helped me a lot.

Things that will also help:
Try new stuff
Learn awk, sed, cut
Navigate and manipulate your file system with core-utils

[pidsley]

I think most of us are in the "learn by doing" camp. If you want to learn more about zsh, try starting with no config (no grml, no oh-my-zsh) and learn how to write your own config. Or if you do use grml, examine their config and see if you can figure out what they are doing.

You are on the right track by starting with a no-X spin and learning how to configure it yourself. If you want to learn more about the "insides" pick something and learn how to do it manually. If you use a wired connection, set up a static IP. If you use wireless, learn how to configure it without using ceni. If you get brave, try to learn how to configure a kernel or change your init system. If you want to learn cwm or dwm, use them!

dkeg is also right about learning by scripting and using coreutils. If you do something often, learn how to write a script to automate it. Look at other people's scripts and see if you can see what they are doing and why. There are a lot of scripts posted here, by several different authors. Everyone does things in a different way, and you can learn from all of them. And read man pages!

You mentioned that you have tried too many distros to count. Did you ever really get into one, or did you just set it up, use it for a few days, and then move on? Pick one or two and really learn them. You won't really know what a distro is all about unless you use it daily for at least six months.

Hang out on forums where people know more than you do. I read the Arch forum, but hardly ever post there. The people there know a lot. I used to read the Gentoo forum; those guys also know a lot. Go back and read some of the older threads here -- we are not doing a lot of experimentation right now, but the posts where we did are still there.

Finally, jump in and try to help with support questions. I have learned most of what I know by answering other people's questions. If I did not know the answer, I searched, read man pages, and tried things until I figured it out. Even if you can't find an answer, you will learn by trying. The rest of what I know I learned by trying things on a test install -- breaking and fixing teaches you a lot. Try something you haven't tried before! If it breaks and you can't fix it, ask! I cannot overstate the importance (to me, at least) of having a separate install I was not afraid to break.

Sorry I can't tell you which book to start with; I'm not really a Linux book guy. I love to read, but I don't read about computers.

[machinebacon]

What the two guys said ^

http://tldp.org/ should definitely be in your bookmarks, and grab your books from http://freecomputerbooks.com/unixCategory.html

Install the Debian Administrator Handbook (it's in the repos or via https://debian-handbook.info/browse/stable/) in case you don't have a network with a portable device. This book actually covers all the important things, however, keep in mind that newer versions of the book will probably focus more on systemd than sysvinit (on the other hand, services still accept the 'old' service SERVICE stop/start/restart format and probably always will)

IMO the things I'd try manually are:
- set up /etc/fstab for automagic mount
- add a swap space there
- set up the network manually (DHCP and static, depending on your router)
- when you are using sysvinit (default on BBQ) look at /etc/inittab and activate 5 TTYs, maybe with autologin
- try four different editors: nano, vim, emacs and ed
- clone/commit/add with git
- look into ~/.bash_aliases to make your work more efficient
- use tmux and GNU screen, maybe also dvtm -- if you like emacs, you can try to reproduce such a session inside emacs with splitting
- for kicks, try some different shells (csh, ksh, zsh, ash) to see how they differ
- make your printer work in TTY using lpr
- run fbcolors in TTY and pick a eye-pleasing scheme :D
- find out how Linux initializes your session (/etc/inittab, /etc/profile.d/*, ~/.bash_profile, ~/.profile, if you run X check ~/.xinitrc)
- change TTY console fonts, time zone and keyboard layout
- try OpenRC, systemd, sysvinit and find your poison
- search the repos for different kernels -- there are literally hundreds -- and test which runs best (coolest)
- in the core utilities, check what different options do (for example: ls -alk, ls -n, )
- at least read what parted, fdisk, mkfs can do, and if you use them, do it on a non-production machine :)
- run 'fb' (also check /usr/local/bin/fb) and try the framebuffer (edit ~/.fbtermrc for this)
- http://linuxbbq.org/wiki/index.php/Category:Terminal has some good info, generally we have a nice wiki

There's surely more to do, these are just some pointers :)

[GekkoP]

Well, everything I was planning to answer has already been said by the others. Follow their hints, you'll be fine.

[schmickel]

Thanks guys for all your advice. Pidsley, I used to actually use Arch for a good bit while I was in school. I installed the 2009.08 version on an external hard drive and used it as a toy and a rescue system. I learned more about linux doing that than anything since. I had to stop using linux for a while after school because we didn't have internet in the house until a few years ago. I downloaded distros at school and messed with them on my Dell Dimension 2400 when I got home. It was my only computer for a while. I really loved how Arch was back then, especially how simple the init system was, which I actually understood. I've forgotten a bit of what I knew back then because of the changes and my hiatus (which was not my fault.) I set up the internet with a wireless router a while back and got back into distro hopping and saw how much Arch had changed and that they had gotten rid of the "BSD-style" init scripts. I didn't know what systemd was at the time, but to me, it seemed to fix a problem that wasn't there, and kind of go against "the Arch way." That's all I'll say about systemd, because I know how some people feel about it. I don't hate it or refuse to use it, but I prefer not to. I haven't installed Arch since then. I'm actually tempted to install it and remove systemd and try something like this http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/hints/d ... d-init.txt. I might totally screw it up, but it wouldn't really matter all that much, since I'd do it to a fresh install. I think it'd be sweet if it worked. Other than Arch, I've used Debian-based distros quite a bit, and have installed Slackware and Slackware-based (absolute and Salix) quite a few times. I'm more comfortable with Debian, but I really love the simplicity of Slack, and am tempted to start using it more, as I haven't in quite a while. Like I've said, I've always been tempted by CRUX and Gentoo. I've just never found one that clicked like Arch did back then. I'm a tinkerer at heart, and get bored easily. I keep coming back to the bbq, though. Believe it or not, this is the first forum I've ever joined. I'm actually pretty introverted and have trouble talking about things I'm not passionate about. I'll follow everyone's advice, particularly about figuring out my own zsh config. I've looked at grml's a bit and like how it's set up, but I want my own setup. That's why I bought From Bash to Z Shell in the first place, but I had to quit linux shortly after. Now I'm back with a vengeance. Thanks again, everybody.

[schmickel]

By the way, thanks for those links. I'm reading through the CLI wiki right now

[GekkoP]

Oh, I forgot: I read From Bash to Z Shell and is a great book. I started with The Linux Command Line and From Bash To Z Shell felt like the natural next step.

[vic]

Ooooh, vic is overwhelmed with exhaustion when he starts to think about all that stuff he should start working on...sigh!

[rhowaldt]

Believe it or not, this is the first forum I've ever joined. I'm actually pretty introverted and have trouble talking about things I'm not passionate about.

this is true, in one way or the other, for so many users here. you found the right place :)

[maso]

Thanks Schmickel for starting this thread. I was curious about what the experts would say. Now I've got a bunch more things to read and try myself.

For what it's worth -- and it's probably not much -- I've found Mark G. Sobell's _A Practical Guide to Linux Commands, Editors, and Shell Programming_ really helpful. I personally do learn well from *books* -- and in old-fashioned paper form at that -- and Sobell's break-downs of how editors work (especially vi) and of text-processing languages like AWK are great.

One thing maybe that really so isn't so easy to pick up by experience at all is *regular expressions*. Sobell has a pretty good run-down of that in an appendix. If anyone has links to good tutorials on the subject, I'd love to see them.

Despite the fact that I teach for a living, I'm another extreme introvert. When I teach, I'm basically acting. It's exhausting.

[wuxmedia]

Finally, jump in and try to help with support questions. I have learned most of what I know by answering other people's questions. If I did not know the answer, I searched, read man pages, and tried things until I figured it out. Even if you can't find an answer, you will learn by trying.

This is me at work TBH.

[rhowaldt]

regular expressions: i just google "regex cheatsheet", find stuff like this: http://www.cheatography.com/davechild/c ... pressions/ and then experiment from there. the trick, usually, is not so much knowing regex, but more knowing your different tools (including regex) and how to combine them in useful ways.

generally, as pidsley said, just start doing something. experiment. try shit out. break stuff. experiment. experiment. experiment.

(this applies to life as well as computerstuff, but we have other threads for that ;)

[ivanovnegro]

Finally, jump in and try to help with support questions. I have learned most of what I know by answering other people's questions. If I did not know the answer, I searched, read man pages, and tried things until I figured it out. Even if you can't find an answer, you will learn by trying.

I second that. Helping other people helps *you*.

[Dr_Chroot]

[machinebacon]

^ Grant Cardone implements the "noX rule"??? :D