~/ signifies your home dir (usually /home/you), where you have all the permissions you want. You can also keep your config files, instead of a general one. Imagine if you worked up to level 26, and some other dweeb came along and finished your game!
Man padsp tells you. It's an OSS (Open Sound System) wrapper, pretending to be OSS.

/Begin history lesson
Back in the 90s some software was written that couldn't adapt to the rather quickly changing environment. Laptops came out with dodgy power saving software, sound cards that weren't in ISA slots pretending to be in ISA slots, 16 bit & 32 bit pcmcia cards, things like my oscilloscope using the parallel port for input, and dodgy and very dodgy sound cards. At some point, people threw out OSS, and started writing Alsa. They threw out ISA slots for PCI. They threw out APM for ACPI. It was painful years as each of these was slowly developed with people promising things would be better but we were in the s***. But it's better now. OSS is gone, APM is 99.9% gone, and the kernel has mad options for dodgy laptops with insane power saving stuff.
/end history lesson.

Actually, 2004 is a bit late for OSS, but the game was probably written earlier. You could still do Alsa or OSS, but OSS was dying.

In 1990 it'd say "there's a learning curve and it's well worth it", a good honest system.

Today I have to say "get an Apple iMac": you can learn BSD at your own speed and when your able you'll naturally install linux or freeBSD when your ready. Apple BSD offers compiling software and GPL'ed wares but cannot be "compiled from scratch" is all (which your not ready for).

Apple's price is about 4x less than it was, relatively, in the 90's. You can find one (used) for a very reasonable price when you compare the hardware cost and capability to (a used pc that can actually match it).

-------------------------

After learning Bash and ssh and compiling - then your ready for unix.

Another philosophy is to entrust Ubuntu with your security compatibility and forced upgrade and auto-updates (they can root your pc) (ie, your online banking) because Ubuntu is an easy OS that uses linux to install. It doesn't compile from scratch you'll need LFS or freeBSD to do that (meaning the OS, linux will compile from scratch though). I don't suggest if you have a better alternative: iMac BSD - allot of which is from GPL even some things borrowed from linux. If you don't need good security you can run Win10 - great at gaming and runs a portion of Ubuntu - again letting you get your feet wet without forcing you to do it all at once.

Redhat - another choice. I suggest there is a learning curve and your upper potential may be limited in ways you cannot today understand: not that redhat isn't good. But you'll need to study and you will face barriers to progress but also gains.

there are all kinds of things to consider: is the skill set marketable? with who? are there really jobs or are the job ads posted by people selling IT and most jobs actually availble (that PAY) aren't in IT unless "you know someone"

the 90's was totally different. if you wanted to get your homework done without lockups and re-installing nearly nightly and if you weren't rich: you needed to use linux it was the only reasonable choice

Things are more specialized than they used to be.

if your all hot to continue with the IT field you have to focus your efforts and be very marketable in one skill

cisco telephony for exmaple, would be one choice, installing phones and network switches in businesses and buildings

another? designing materials used in cpu replacements (that's CIS rather than IT)

another? physics of electrical physical spinning disks, or LED panel technology

choose something marketable and do only that - there are other examples not listed

bad choice in MY opinion: attempting to generalize in all of linux as an "admin"

SUMMARY: don't struggle to learn it all because it will limit the time you have to be marketable in a marketable skill

Sleve, I have a suggestion. Btw, Slackware is a good choice.

What is a GNU/Linux system and what does it consist of? I think this is the way to go. You need to understand what a system is and how it works. This should not be difficult, but some interesting reading and research. One you find out what a GNU/Linux system consist of, you can split those things into categories of stuff that you need to learn and tinker with.

I have used GNU/Linux for over 15 years now, and I know it quite well in many ways. But all in all I don't know it too well, so I recently decided that I would learn it to an advanced level. How am I going about this? Well, I simply wrote down essential system components that I need to learn (better). How do I deal with those, what can I do with them, how do I manipulate them, how do I change them etc etc.

Each part of a GNU/Linux system requires a particular set of knowledge and skills, but you need to split this down and learn them one or a few at a time. So why not start at the start? I already have extensive experience with dealing with the Linux Kernel from a user perspective, but this is what I am currently doing at an advanced level and I am learning alot. Delving into the Kernel is is natural that my first "module" of learning spills into things like /sys, /proc, init and related things. This is a good thing for me and makes my learning experience more organic. Did I start with the Kernel? No. Does GNU/Linux start with the Kernel? No, it starts with the bootloader(s). I did not really go deeply into the bootloaders as I intended, because I was disillusioned with GRUB2, but I will return there. But it also fit's well into the same "module" as I am currently in.

Anyways, what I am suggesting is that you understand how a GNU/Linux system works, and take it from the start until the end. Learn the first things first from a system standpoint and work your way through all the layers of the system.

Anyways, it does not even have to be that structured, once you get into some things, you can consult a list you make about "topics", and you will quickly realise you need to learn other related topics to learn more about the one you are currently working on, so the learning should be quite organic. Like Bash for me, I had it far "down" my list, but I realised I needed to brush up on my Bash knowledge quite early on. Not to an advanced level, but just more than it was already. Same will probably apply to other topics like Udev and Filesystems, while other things that are later on my list probably will have me revisiting earlier stuff.

Anyways, I think if you want to learn GNU/Linux it is a good idea to start from the beginning and really delve deep into each topic and learn by doing, which is what I am doing. Ofcourse there is a fair bit of reading to, but this is natural, but the method is learning by doing.

Just to give you a tiny kick from my list of things (each of them also have subsections which I will not mention here), a few of the things I noted down in the start of my "list" of things:

Bootloaders
Kernel
Agetty (tty)
Init
/sys
/proc
Udev
filesystem
/etc

Ok, so that is just the beginning of my list of things, and the list is quite long, and I am sure I will add to it. I've got subsections to alot of the things as well, but in any case, what of the list I have printed here should give you a good idea about things. The order is not random.

So perhaps at the very end of my list would be something like Plasma, C++ and widgets. That is on "top" of the system, so it would be at the bottom of my list, and vice versa, what is at the bottom of the system is on the top of my list. In my way of thinking ofcourse, and it sure is not a perfect list, just for my own reference.

So I've already spent weeks dealing with the Kernel by now, and I have learned alot of new things that I did not already know, although I was already quite comfortable with it. I can see several weeks ahead where I continue to do Kernel related stuff, but also at the same time getting deeper into some of those other topics high up the list. Then eventually I will move on to another topic, and Kernel will become a less important topic. Etc etc etc.

Please tell me you're 'kidding' when you say you 'want to learn Linux inside out'! That would require several lifetimes. I've used Linux personally and professionally since 2002. I have a comp. sci. degree. But I'm not even close to really knowing it inside out.

There are a many things I'd like to learn, but the investment of time and effort isn't worth it to me. Learning Linux for the sake of itself is not going to work. It's just not that fun. It has to get you something that you don't already have!

I'm an IT professional. So, I get a lot of mileage from Linux. It does a lot. And it was a great advantage to me in many areas: PBX, database, ghost imaging, surveillance and security, forensic analysis, white hat, parsing, web and ftp server, GPS, graphics, photo processing, video production, radio communication system design and config, electronic design, instrument control, data presentation, networking, system design and development, project tracking, communication, organizational management, back up server, and I'm sure much I've forgotten.

But if I hadn't needed to do any of that stuff, or if I was happy doing it with some other OS, I'd rather be bar-b-queing, traveling, drinking, or otherwise having real fun than learning Linux. I come on this board because it's polite and civilized to give back some of what I've learned, and in sharing I can truly 'own' my knowledge.

Plus, the others here know a huge amount, so I learn a lot from them too.

From the inside out. You misunderstood what I said. Not inside out, but from the inside to the outside. That can be both basic knowledge, advanced knowledge or total knowledge. It's just a method of learning it that I meant to convey. Perhaps it was not well written. But the point was to start at the start (inside) and work your way to the end (outside).

Did someone say "learn it inside out" ?

Well if you really want to blow your mind, why check this out.

A little long-winded but there is this as well (might be easier and some good tips too).

And just for good measure, there is this too.

Will I be doing all of that? ... arh, probably not.

Well, you can learn the Kernel in two ways, from a developers view and from a users view. It is handy for a user to be able to handle and set up the Kernel according to his own wishes.

One point of GNU/Linux is to empower the user.. This is done through understanding and having control over the system. Ergo, most Ubuntu users are not empowered, they just do what Ubuntu tells them to and never learn the system beneath the Ubuntu layer of x.