Learning Linux
 

Hi..

I've used quite a lot of Linux Distros viz. SuSE, Fedora 6,7,8, Ubuntu 6.06, etc. But i haven't explored them much. I've just used some applications and some of shell. But I want to learn more about linux. So where do I start?

I've seen some ebooks for Linux, but I didn't feel comfortable with them. So plz suggest me some ebooks or any other source from where I can learn Linux.

Thanx in advance..

your using a great source of linux knowledge right now.

the LQ forums are as good if not better than alot of other sources, due to its concise nature.

I wait for interesting threads, then apply them to my own system, im beginning to piece together a good allround understanding of linux this way, the experience of other linux users is very valuable.

The king of Linux tutorials:

http://www.tech-geeks.org/contrib/md...kshop/rute.pdf

This version is from a few years ago. Does anyone know if there is a more recent one?

don't read, don't study, just do. use it.

Well, I completely agree with you. I love this site. It is very useful. But where do I start? Should I start off with shell programming? Or should I learn how everything works? Or should I start from the very basics of Linux(I know a bit though)?

Have a look at The Linux Documentation Project, and download what you want in either .html or .pdf.

http://tldp.org/

When I was at that point, I was recommended the book, Linux in a Nutshell, published by O'Rielly.

Make the investment, you will not regret it.

Thank You very much..

I suggest that you start from here http://www.reallylinux.com/ .:cool:

I wouldn't want to be without my "Linux in a Nutshell", but two others I've found very useful are:

"Linux Cookbook"

also from o'Reilly. A book of "I want to.........." questions with answers. And:

"Linux in a Windows World"

from the same publisher. If your machines need to interact with Windows it contains most that you need to know.

The one rule of thumb I've found over the years is that no one book contains all the answers.

You've already had the best advice, just get stuck in and use Linux. Then when you come across something you don't understand, ask here, use Google etc. It's the best way to learn.

Or you could install and use Slackware, you'll learn a lot just by doing that.

However, one of the best books I've come across that deals with the command line is, The Linux Phrasebook by Scott Granneman, ISBN 0-672-32838-0. Easy to read and it's pocket sized.

Hi,

I agree that Slackware would be a good start but sometimes Slackware is not for everyone. I would suggest 'Free GNU/Linux Books' as a good source. Or look at, 'Linux in a Nutshell' online to see if you want to buy it. I would recommend buying since it makes a great desk reference.

These links and others can be found at 'Slackware-Links' .

For learning about the bash shell, look for the "Advanced Bash Scripting Guide" on the www.tldp.org website. It consists almost entirely of commented examples that you can try out yourself and experiment.

Your distro should also have an administrator's guide. Many distro's will even have a number of documents packages of how-tos that will install the how-to's found on the www.tldp.org website.

If you install the source for the core-utils package, you can generate a pdf or ps version of the manual which is a good reference for around 100 utilities, from the basic ls, cp, mv to more obscure gems like comm.

The source for gawk includes the source for a book "Gawk: Effective AWK Programming" which is very good. ( Especially compared to the SED manual ).

Printing out a hard copy of some man pages can be useful. Then you have an easier to read hard copy of the manpages while working on the computer.
man -t <topic> | lpr

Thanx a ton for all your replies. I'll surely download those books. Thank you all.
:)