General tip for all newbies
 

I am not a guru, but here is a piece of advice that has helped me a great deal:

Keep a Linux notebook.

Write down everything you do and how you did it. I don't mean you have to keep track of every command you make, but rather things like:

BASH commands (a list of bash commands and what they do)
How you got your video/sound/nic/etc drivers working (if you had to do anything)
Keyboard shortcuts (list)
How to change permissions
How to mount drives
Useful websites
Where do download my drivers

etc etc

Just make yourself a little reference book that you can look back at if you find yourself doing the same thing over again. It will save you time and effort if you've already recorded what you did. Plus, writing stuff down often helps your memory. :)

I found that this was most effective when I reinstalled RH9 on my system. Every time I did something significant that I thought I might forget how to do, I wrote it down as I did it. Now I've basically got an install guide for my system. Flip to page one, I've got my BASH command reference. Flip to page two, how I got all my hardware working... etc etc.

Really, it helps a lot.

-dave

Just bumping this because I really liked it :cool: Thanks for the suggestions :)

If others have more to add, feel free.

Cool

Hey, thanks. Maybe one day I will get a sticky. ;)

Here are some other things I've added to my binder:

README files for certain programs/drivers (ie the NVidia drivers)
A page on grep (probably could fill a lot more than a page!)
How to recompile the kernel
A list of all of my hardware with good details

[edit]
Forgot to add-- I plan on making an online version of this notebook in the near future (as soon as I finish the website project I am actually getting paid for <g>) which will hopefully be of use to a lot of newbies. I'll be sure to post a link to it when it is ready.
[/edit]

-dave

Awesome! That's really a great job. I know a lot of people keep printed maps of the different places they visit on games like Everquest, this idea is similar but much more practical.

Thanks for the tips, if people keep em coming, I (or my fellow moderator) might be inclined to sticky it if enough people will add to it to comprise a great thread for "tips for newbies".
;)

Cool

This is exactly what I do and I find it really helpfull, the whole keeping a text file of commands and what not.

My suggesitons to append to the list would be this. Once you have it working in X, do it in console. I can still remember the day when I had a console based AIM clinet (naim), mp3 player (mp3balster) file manager (midnight commander) and web browser (links) alll working. It was great. Just to protest the need for X I used console only for 3 days.

Don't limit yourself by using X all the time, it is an uncessarry crutch! The power of linux is in the console, push yourself outside your comfort zone and just start with simple things.

hehe, it reminds me of the journal i used to write for CCNA. where in you write what went wrong and how you fixed it.
anyways its a nice thought .