to be able to use Linux as functionally as you used to use Win/OSX? Basically, Im wondering how long it took you to get to know linux really well. Im on my 5th day, and it seems really difficult. Ive spent all of my time fixing things, with little sucess. I know learning Linux is worth it, though. And I know its not easy, but I hate windows and cant afford a Mac. So I know Im on Linux for good

It depends on how well you know Windows...

In my case, I was not the leat bit proficient on Windows and I learned to do more on Linux very quickly (few months)

Flip side: Linux has an asymptote--ie one can quickly get to the point where the last bits of knowledge come very slowly.

I probably used linux as functionally as windows after, 6 months top. But, I never knew much about Windows. I know I've learned more about linux (by a lot), than I ever knew about Windows

What was the best learning source? I read alot on linux.org/lessons . Its a really good source. One thing I wished more people would do is instead of giving newbies code, explain what the code does, the aliases, and the reason He/she is having you type it.

One of the things that is difficult for me is typing commands that are drawn out and are very specific.

it took me prolly 6 months before i was comfortable using linux vs windows, i also tried a few different distro's before finding something that i love and use daily now...and here, 3 years later, i'm still learning.

there are some great online references to use. i used rute to get me going...and obviously LQ.org is amazing...and also tldp is full of information.
always remember, google is your friend!

*edit

a lot of times the easiest answer will be someone tossing a code at you, without giving a description of what/why it is or does. i do that myself sometimes. it's a bad habit, and i apologize if i ever do it to you...but i know if i'm checking the forums here and someone says "hey, how do i???" it's second nature almost for me to say "oh just type "code here" and although i know how and why it works, i sort of assume everyone who reads it does too...which obviously isn't true...so if anyone tosses code at you, don't be afraid to ask why or what or how...people here are great, and will usually tell you more than you ever needed to know about something...lol.

How long did it take you....?

Well, still working at it. I came to linux with little pc experience. Windows was such a hassle to maintain, my thoughts were "there has to be something better out there". So far no regrets. Maybe not having much windows knowledge and ingrained windows habits was an advantage.

The learning process went something like;
1) Figuring out the filesystem. This helped http://www.pathname.com/fhs/
2) Learning about permissions
3) Printing out a bash cheatsheet and posting it on the wall behind the monitor
4) Learning the package manager and alternative ways to install software

After that it was mostly a matter of learning the desktop (kde in my case) and the apps/utilities. Is a learning a microsoft product really much different? Other than the fact MS documentation is better (more centrally) organized

This is an excellent question...

Consider someone with no pc experience (umm, grandma, for instance). How long would it take her to learn Windows? Now then, once she's used to Windows, let's switch her over to Linux. There...she's confused because a lot of the stuff she learned for Windows doesn't work the same in Linux.

Now imagine if she learned Linux first. The same "learning curve" would apply if she switched to Windows.

Point is, sometimes it's harder to learn something if you've already got experience with a similar, yet fundamentally different, system. Linux and Windows serve the same purpose, yet they go about it differently, introducing a "learning curve" that is in all reality an accidental difficulty when switching from one to the other. I read an article concerning Linux users working with *BSD...the same accidental difficulty was present, but the point is, someone starting with *BSD and switching to Linux had to deal with the same difficulties (even though Linux and BSD are much more closely related than Linux and Windows or *BSD and Windows).

Now then, having come from a Windows background myself (sigh...), I'd have to say that it took me about 30 seconds to realize that I had my hands on something good when I booted up my first Linux installation...and it took me probably two months (or so) to get to the point that I could remove Windows from my computer without any drastic loss in productivity. (I don't play games quite so much as most people, I guess). It depends on how you use your computer.

Hang in there, EYEdROP, you'll be glad you did because it's worth every second of learning.

I'm maybe a late starter, I think it took me about one year of double booting to reach nearly the same efficiency. Not in all tasks, but some worked better then on Windows some worse. When I did the full switch to Linux my learning curve got much faster.

I still consider myself not a Linux expert, but an advanced newbie.

it took me around a year to fully get hold of linux but i still can get get a hold of firewalls!!!
i ve learn a lot from linuxquestions and www.tldp.org
before that i was a full user of ms windows having used all the oses produced by ms billy

I would use the "Unleashed" books. I am currently reading "Fedora Core 6 Unleashed", and it's VERY thurough. I think they have one for Ubuntu. You should check it out, You should start by looking at amazon here

I figure about a year for me. I suppose i am fairly proficient in windows (2k,xp), so i knew which settings to tweak, tools to use etc.

The thing is i find Linux's functionality, scope and toolsets far greater, so i can achieve more using it than a windows system. I am constantly on XP at work wanting to write a shell script or use grep or the package manager, it just makes more sense to me.

I do like to keep my knowledge current in as many systems as i can though, you never know when it will come in handy.

That's a good point. I agree with you 100%. I know some people that are like "I am NEVER using Windows again...I'm replacing everything with (Insert other operating system here)" But they don't realize is that the more you know about a variety of thing...the better. Although I agree that Linux is better (IMO) and I prefer it; I don't think that Windows will go away. So as an IT person, you should have at least SOME knowledge in Windows (an yes this does mean using VISTA once in a while....wow...that left a bad taste in my mouth...)

-custangro

I would say it took close to a year to be as competent in linux as windows for me. I was lucky enough to have 2 machines, so I kept one with 2000 professional then the other with Red Hat 9 then Fedora Core 1. I bought a new machine about 9 or so months into the linux project with the intent to dual boot, and never bothered to install win on it. I also had the good fortune to discover Debian and drop Fedora in the trash.

I think one of the best things you can do to help yourself along would be to do everything at the prompt rather than through the GUI. It is good that you're asking questions about written codes, because that is where the power of linux really comes out. Clicking on pictures is great, but you have no real knowledge of what is happening. The command line is not that forgiving. Also, the CLI is much better when moving between systems. If I get placed on slackware 11 when I'm used to Debian I can get around well through the CLI, but if you use KDE and get put on a machine with Gnome, you're fairly useless.

Another thing that might help is if you use KDE, within Konqueror, click on windows and select "show terminal emulator". That will show you at the command line how to do everything you are doing graphically. There probably is a similar tool in Gnome, I just don't know what it is.

Peace,
JimBass

I started using Linux back in 2002. It took approximately 1 year to safely say, "Yep, now I can delete MS for good".

As I went from DOS to Linux and then learned Windoze later on it's a whole different situation. I always found the MS OS to be frustrating and nearly useless.