Education
 

Coming from a windows background this Linux is very confusing. Now the only reason may be because i have been learning about windows for so long. Now Linux has things in different places, like where drivers go (well according to this website they aren't even called drivers, they are called modules) So i guess what im asking what would be a easy way to learn about linux, as for installing hardware, software, configuring the OS, Configuring hardware. Is there any good books that anyone could suggest or as i would prefer a good website. I want to start from point A (begining) to point z (end) Or would anyone prefer taking a class through college

For a variety of documentation, look at the system 'man' pages (though these can be confusing for many) and the HOWTOs available on The Linux Documentation Project (http://tldp.org). Also, consider picking up a book or two: dozens of books have been reviewed by moderators and members alike in the LQ book reviews section. What distribution are you running? Distros like Ubuntu have well-maintained documentation wikis and even official guide books.

The best way to learn Linux is to install it and start using it. The "getting started" link below might be useful.

An excellent book is "Linux in a Nutshell" from O'Reilly (They are perhaps the #1 seller of Linux books--many of which are now free on-line).

And, of course, this forum---come back with your questions--no matter how silly they seem.

Have a look at yolinux.com; I always wonder why it's never mentioned here.

RE:education
 

Ok i see the post about just use linux and get use to it. Well the problem is, is that i cant even install hardware. My confusion can be fixed quickly if i can find documentation on how to do certain things that you are able to do in windows. As for install hardware, install drivers for that hardware, check to see if the computer can even recognize the hardware. Where do drivers for that hardware go after you are to obtain them, what such folders inside linux like ETC, USR, BIN are and what is placed inside of them i was using Fedora Core 7 but have moved over to a distro called i-cop because supposibly it it suppose to act like a router and monitor incomin g and out gong files. The problem is, most eople have never heard of it and the only support i can find is about Fedora Core, Redhat, Ubuntu, E.T.C. I really wish i could get the distro i-cop working before Fedora just to monitor my network first. But from the sounds of it im really looking at the best possible solution to help me get started with linux it can be a book, a website, maybe even a class.

Wouldn't it be more sensible to start from Fedora instead of jumping right into i-cop? You can always get on to more complex tasks once you're familiar with Linux in general. And yes, books and classes can be of some use but the best school is still simply installing and seeing where it takes you. As long as you stick with one of the more popular disributions, you shouldn't have too much trouble finding a guide to accomplish at least the most basic things. Will it be enough? Yes and no. For the first few weeks, you'll likely be scratching your head and clicking around like a fool trying to make any sense of it all. What are bin, etc and usr? Who cares, you really don't need to know that sort of thing to get started - as if the general windows user knew the purpose of system32 or msconfig or chkdsk... But if you must know: usr contains userland applications, bin gathers most binaries (usually in the form of shortcuts to the actual apps) and etc contains configuration files for apps and services. Drivers? If you're lucky - and many are - the only driver you may possibly have to install is a video driver - and if you have an older video card, you won't even need one.
Anyway, if you would like to get a taste of Linux without installing anything yet, you should try out a liveCd like Ubuntu, PCLinuxOS, Mepis, Knoppix,Fedora live - these run from cd instead of hard disk and they will give you an accurate idea about support for your hardware.

No Direct Answer
 

Can't come up with a direct answer to your question. In order to help you with installing hardware, would have to know what distribution you will be using. Many distro's have good hardware support and will get your system in running condition from the start (possibly lacking proprietary video drivers and such).

Which one to start with depends on how much you are wanting to learn about linux and what you like. I agree with previous posts in that you should try a few live cd's. Decide on which GUI you like and decide which distro feel you feel the most comfortable with. You have the option of choosing one where you can do most everything from the GUI and others where you will have to use the command line.

Distrowatch is a good place to look and see the highest rated distro's.

Personally I started with slackware, it was the only distro that installed on my machine easily other than gentoo (system compatability varies thats why I suggest trying the live cd's). They weren't recommended for newbies but the live cd's all had problems with my hardware other than these two and now that I have gotten used to them... I prefer them. If there is linux software that's not available for these I download the source, compile and install and if i like it make an install package and add it to my repository allowing awesome configuration options.

Fedora core 7
 

Ok i seen the comment to install fedora instead of i-cop. Like i said before the i-cop is just to replace my router once i get it up and going i can get back to fedora core. The i-cop is like an advanced router it has IDS, a better firewall, monitors incoming and outgoing packets, E.T.C. once you get i-cop working all configuration is done through a web page. As for fedora i did get that up and i was trying to connect to my wireless network and it kept saying some permission issue was going on and to run a certain command through terminal window, in which i did and it wouldnt work, i even logged in as root and tried it. I use ventrilo and aim also so i was trying to get them installed but i didnt even know where to start. As for the wireless how can i even be assured that the wireless card is recognized? in windows you just goto device manager is there a device manager in there? just hard to get started if you cant get all software and hardware installed first

as for live cd
 

i have tried knoppix and didn like the idea of live cd cause nothing saves. I would like to boot the computer back up and be able to finish what i started not start all over.
Just a random question can you re-compile the kernal from within linux or do you need special software?

I'm pretty sure Fedora has one but I always check these things from the command line. If you use commands like
lspci
lsusb
lshw
hwinfo
you'll get plenty of information about the hardware. Some of these commands work out of the box, other ones need to be installed first (Applications >Add/Remove software).

About permissions being denied: this is usually a matter of not being root. If you log on as a regular user, you have limited permissions, this is just a protection against insecurity and potentially fatal user mistakes. In order to become root, you open up a terminal, type su - and then your root password; then you can proceed with full permissions.

Wireless cards were a blind sport until quite recently; great progress has been made in the meantime but still there are quite a number of cards that do not have Linux drivers; if none are included with Fedora, you should check the site of the manufacturer - if you don't find anything there either, then it's safe to say that this manufacturer couldn't care less about Linux or any of the other open source systems. In which case you're screwed, to put it bluntly.

The reason I suggested Fedora over i-cop was just to gain some experience; Fedora can be made quite secure in its own right and tends to be better documented; you can still install i-cop once you are familiar with at least the basics of Linux.

Knoppix. Yes, like other livecds, it doesn't normally save anything to hard disk. This can be an advantage, for example when you want to surf the net without risking infection. This doesn't mean that it is entirely impossible to save anything to disk, however. Your hard drive(s) need to be mounted, then you can copy out whatever you need to save. This is rather inconvenient so it's not your best option if you want to run Linux more than occasionally.

Recompiling kernels works perfectly within Linux - no special software needed. Doing so can be quite an adventure for new users, however, and isn't usually recommended unless it is the only way to include support for this or that piece of hardware.

Re compile
 

I understand totally what you are saying about live cd's and i-cop and blah blah blah. The reson i need i-cop is just like i said to be my router after its up and going i wont need to touch it again and its not that difficult compared to distros such as fedora red hat ubuntu e.t.c. all i need to do is e ablle to install a pcmcia card and am having a hard time to figure out how. What i did in response to that problem is got a 20 gig hard drive off ebay and will setup one of my workstations to run i-cop then getting pcmcia cards to workout wont be neccassary.

One question though is can you have a linux i cop acting as a router with win2003 enterprise running also just for domain capabilities?

As for logging in as root i did do this at the start up i typed username = root then the pass so no need to do su then pass cause im in as root arent i? And your right maybe the wireless card isn't supported it is a dell wireless 1450 card can i check to see if it is supported? The pcmcia card is a linysys pcm200 card. What about Flash drives can distros like fedore core find them use them utilize anything by plug and play? just wondering

How exactly do you recompile the kernal what application do you open to do this? or what file needs editing and what program could you use to edit it?

Get the kernel source -- download from kernel.org or install (using the software management tool of your distribution, like yum, apt-get or something) the kernel source package from the distribution's internet reposity. Source code should then be installed (copied) to /usr/src/linux.

After this head to the directory. Read the README and/or INSTALL files found beneath, along with other documentation if you like, and run
That's the basic instructions. When ready, run the make targets told in the files to make sure you've got a clean start, and then
(or 'xconfig' for graphical configuration, but I prefer 'menuconfig'), make changes, save and run the rest 'make' commands told in the READMEs, 'make help' texts etc.