Hello everyone,
My name is Kevin, I'm currently a full time CIS/ Networking student @Mt. Hood Community College. I just have taken only two terms on Unix/Linux OS. Please would anyone tell me more about how to learn Unix/ Linux effectively?Although my PC skills are not like that bad, I still strugle with Unix/Linux. Thanks a lot.

Kevin N

Here are the steps that I followed:

1) Dedicate a PC to Linux and install it on there.

2) Get "comfortable" with it ... Use it for your day-to-day computing until you feel confident doing every-day stuff on it.

3) Download, build from source, and configure BIND. Read the howtos online, and get it working as a local caching nameserver.

4) One by one, download, build, and configure the various servers used widely on the internet. (HTTP, POP, SMTP, IMAP, SQL)

By the time you've set up and tinkered with all of those applications, you will have come a long way and will know a lot more than you do now. More importantly, you will have picked up on the general conventions of how things are set up and get done in a Linux environment.

That is a great idea. Just find a inexpensive second hand computer, desktop or laptop and install SlackWare in it.

They say that if you learn Ubuntu, you will understand Ubuntu, if you learn SlackWare you will understand Linux.
I am in that process myself

Good luck to you.

just make an install for your desktop and run another as a server and play around with them doing random things that you think of and read forums like this one where you're bound to learn something eventually.

- learn a programmin language (C) on linux or Windows
- buy a second hand PC (50 Euros in Germany inclusiv screen); with LAN
- buy an additional second hand grafic card
- buy RAM > 512MB
- take a Linux basic course
- buy a second HDD
- buy an USB Memory
- nuy an USB WLAN
- Buy an USB GPRS modem
Install different Linux
- Debian
- Slitaz
- Puppy
- TinyCorelinux..
Take a second (advanced) Linux course
By mixing the OSs and changing the HW, you will learn.
Put your PC into an internal net.
Exchange data with other PCs in the same net.
Start putting in place a server (print.. Data..).. I stop here.. Im here..
Take a linux server course.
Or change your destiny and programm
a) kernel
b) application programms (midnight Commander.. )
c) join a distribution and developp for them
So, this is my current thoughts.
Good luck. I started programming with 15. 30 years later Im still not finish.
Learn. Learn. Its good and reduce the life pains.

A lot of information is available for Debian Linux and Ubuntu Linux. If you start learning Linux, Debian Linux and Ubuntu Linux should be among the best options. Many users use these versions of Linux and thus they can provide a lot of experience and helpful advice. When you search the Internet, you can get a lot of suggestions.

Hi mate, debian user here. In response to the person why quoted ye ol Slackware teaches Linux quote, i personally don't recommend you take that approach straight away. The very first thing you should do and probably most important is step 1 of what foodown said. In saying this, be careful of what computer you buy if you go laptop, do the research and don't make the same mistake i did and buy a bloody brand spanking new optimus laptop with an amazing 8 hours battery life... on Windows, and a miserable 3 on Linux. Optimus laptop being the key to that story; Nvidia don't support Linux under Optimus (YET! hopefully). Go with a newby distro first off so you cn learn the concepts of Gnu/Linux, such as repository’s of software ect. These are the basic things, but i recommend a newby distro to get aquainted with these ideas because Gnu/Linux chooses some different roads to to get to places to what Windows does, and on a newby distro you don't have to worry about other things and just get acquainted with the new road. Once you grasped the concept of jargen and how to get things done, then maybe take tron0074s advice and give Slackware a go. It has a reputation for being an 'advanced' Linux, but It isn't as hard as some people make it ound, and there is some definite advantages to it, once you understand it a little better.

Thats what i wanted to add, and as a last minute thought, to help you start, download Chess Griffins podcast, "Linux Reality". it's old now and some of the things he mentions are old and no longer true, but the majority of it, is still relevant and it's a great educational show: i highly recommend it.
Oh and if you choose to take my advice and select a newby distro, do some research on desktop environments for Linux before you choose because Linux is currently having some big changes in the desktop environment side of things. If you can, give all the desktop environments a go.

Install a distribution, whomever attracts you.

Stay out of the GUI for a while and just play on the command line. That is how to learn how Linux works. You will make errors but the only thing you can break is the installation. So stay off the LAN and WAN for a short while and play with all the commands on the box, do it as root so you can really break things. Then simply re-install the distribution or try another one. Learn to drive the machine and not let the machine drive you.

Bon chance.

Or just try a LFS build on an older system. Of course this is a bit more of a head first suggestion but you will learn more than you might think.