hi

im new to linux, and i have setup a dual boot on my computer with
fedora core 8 and win xp. having used windows for 12 years i want
to learn linux, a breath of fresh air i call it.

Can anyone reccommend any books to read. I have linux for dummies and
when i attempted to mount an ntfs partition using the command in the book i had no success. i find the commands and file system hard to get to grips with but i will keep trying!

thankx

Welcome to LQ and congratulations on getting setup without our help....

You will get more answers to this question than most people can handle......Here is my 2 cents--not meant to be a flippant as it sounds:

1. Try things, push buttons at random, etc. You can't break the computer, and you can re-install if necessary. (Of course your data is backed up, so no worries there.)
2. After you have your feet wet, then read a book. Linux in a Nutshell (O'Reilly) is a good start.
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 as required. (Substitute different books). In the process, get comfortable with the package manager.
4. Learn the basics of the command-line (terminal): Bash Guide for Beginners--free at http://tldp.org
5. Repeat as required...

One thing to keep in mind: While it is entirely feasible to do everyday tasks without ever opening a terminal, The command line is central to the real power of Linux. With only the most rudimentary knowledge, you will discover many things that are easier--and faster--in a terminal.

That's right, DIY (Doing It Yourself) is the best way to learn in this case (in my opinion). You could spend days (and nights) reading 1000+ pages long books and in the end you wouldn't probably remember too much about what you read..but if you do things yourself, try out, fail, re-try, repeat and finally succeed, it will surely sink deeper to your head than if you just read about the matter and thought "ah, well that's easy". It is, but not unless you remember how.

As a small note, it's not called "Fedora Core 8", but just "Fedora 8". The 'core' was dropped off the name after 6, so beginning from number 7 the series is just "Fedora [number]". Nothing big, but I like to keep things in order

linuxcommand.org is a nice site for learning the command line, in addition to what was mentioned.

If you learned on Windows, then you learned badly.

Sorry, that's just the way it is. Windows does a number of important things (such as referencing volumes) very badly, and you'll find that you have a number of bad habits to overcome when you try another OS such as linux.

You will find the learning curve to be steep, but if you stick with it you will eventually understand exactly why I say Windows teaches you bad habits, and you will learn what good habits are - and you will know why.

Any *nix can match the power of Windows graphically, using X and your choice of window manager (KDE comes closest to Windows). But the real power of *nix is in the command line, providing capability that you can't come close to matching with Windows.

Once installed and configured (and - most importantly - understood), Linux is easier to use than Windows, far more flexible than Windows, and much easier to fix than Windows. You'll see.

Lesson number one: Get over the C drive. A volume should be just about anything and you should identify it by pointing to it (the *nix way), not by directly referencing its hardware (the Windows way). Once you have learned how to point to it, then you'll find it trivially easy to move things to another location and just change where you point to.

Much easier than having to reinstall packages just to reorganize your drive.

http://www.reallylinux.com/docs/basicconfig.shtml
http://www.techotopia.com/index.php/...top_Essentials
http://www.techotopia.com/index.php/...nux_Essentials

Work problem oriented.

What you have to read usally depends on what you're trying to archieve at the moment. You'll need some tips for X11? Or have a question about wlan connections? What mail client to use? How to get mutt working together with PGP? What to do with a "matroska" file? How to list all files older then three weeks and check if they're contain some forgotten email adress?

Usally, you work along those lines and gather knowledge and experience along the way.

Besides "Google", the O'Reilly books are indeed rather well written and well suited for beginners - not just "Linux in a Nutshell".

Hi,
Welcome to LQ!

Congratulation on your successful install.

You could look at the 'Linux Books & Online Magazines' section of 'Slackware-Links' wiki for some good book reference. Loads of other useful Linux links.

The 'Linux for Dummies' is not that good of a reference. You could get more information from the 'cli' with the 'man' command.

You could use 'Linux Command Guide' or 'Linux Newbie Admin Guide' to get some good reference to work with in your endeavor. The 'Linux Documentation Project' is a real good place to look for information when all else fails.

These links and others are available from 'Slackware-Links' .

Just remember Linux is a tool just like any operating system. Learn to use it right! You can use it left handed without too much trouble.

You can find all the info you need by making effective use of your search engine. For fedora this is a good start http://www.my-guides.net/en/content/view/91/26/

Try these:
http://www.tldp.org/LDP/abs/html/
http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm
http://wiki.linuxquestions.org/wiki/...ndows_software
http://rute.2038bug.com/index.html.gz