At home I've got Ubuntu running on an old thinkpad for net surfing and ebook reading.
At work I've got openSuSE running as a host for VMware.
I recently completed my biggest project to date, in which I got my work machine to fully connect to the active directory domain. This was a necessity if I were to be able to use Linux in my office.

Now that I don't have any thing left to configure, I'm looking for ideas to task myself with to continue my Linux knowledge. Got any Linux "word problems?"
What should a Windows power user do to transform into a Linux guru?

Thanks for reading.

Hi,

Load Slackware® and use it!

Learn DNS, Samba, DHCP, iptables, etc. configuration. There are lots of different services used in the workplace.

1. Learn how to write bash and Perl scripts
2. Install MySQL or PostreSQL, create a simple database, and experiment with SQL
3. Write some simple C programs using GCC as your compiler
4. Install Apache and setup a local web server
5. Install Drupal and Joomla and play with them (requires Apache or equivalent)
6. Set up a private Wiki (requires Apache or equivalent)
7. Install PHP and use it to write some server side scripts for your web server (requires Apache or equivalent)

That should keep you busy for a few days...

Duh, that should have been number one on my list.

Yep, learn to install and configure services:
NFS
DNS / bind
sendmail
Apache
IPTables
xinetd
tcp_wrappers
NIS
LDAP
MySQL
cron / crontabs
Samba
SSH
Squid
FTP

That should keep you going...

Definitely Bash and at least one of Perl/Python for when you need a more sophisticated/powerful approach.

Better buy a book and follow the book install some service and do some practice.

No need to buy a book, plenty of free stuff on the net, see people's links above. Also, http://rute.2038bug.com/index.html.gz

I graduated with plenty of programming experience. Unix scripting and C aren't a problem.
There are plenty of people out there that want to switch from Windows to Linux, but have no desire to code. Do you feel like Linux and Programming go hand in hand?

Thanks, Those are some great suggestions!

I thought of one more to add myself, *learn more about linux partitioning. As many noobs do, I have everything (besides the swap) on one mounted partition.
Wow, now I see why that's such a bad idea. Putting /home on its own mounted partition makes upgrading or changing distros so easy!
(Now that I really think about it, this is what I already do on my Windows box, having "My Documents" on a separate partition.)

I feel like computers and programming go hand in hand. I write software for a living. I find that people feel a sense of empowerment when they learn even the simplest form of programming. I find that Linux makes it easier to put a toe in the water of programming. If I wanted to teach someone to program, I would set them up with a Linux box.

But, of course, there is much more to Linux than programming. That is why I mentioned databases and web servers and wikis, and so on. I tried to think of the top reasons people try Linux. However, my list will always be biased because of my programming background.

If you really want to have some fun, install "Frets on Fire" and play that for a while. No prior programming experience (or musical ability) required.

Hi,

The utility of GNU/Linux is that you don't have too pay the big $$ to get anything done. If you need/want to program then that can be achieved even if you don't have the experience. More than enough free information to get the desired task(s) completed. Plus you'll have the forums here at LQ when you do get stuck.

One of the only reasons I subscribe to several Linux magazines is for the interesting articles they have. sometimes the smalles newsbyte in the side column will send me off tracking down a new program I hadn't seen before, or an article will motivate me to install or try what is being discussed. Might want to frequent the Linux magazine websites if you are not up to paying the ridiculously high subscription fees a couple of these charge for the magazines. Also sites like the Debian Package of the Day are nice for exposing you to different things.

I enjoy the following publications.

Linux Format
Linux Pro
Linux Journal

enjoy !!

Did you use Likewise to connect your SuSe machine to active directory network? I am using it but I am also looking for some other alternatives for my Ubuntu Hardy.

@linuxlover.chaitanya, I never got Likewise to work appropriately for me. All it did was give me false hope on my Fedora machine. SuSE, IMO, is the best free distro for enterprise use. After trying many many different distros, SuSE provided all the tools I needed (in a stable and organized package) to connect to different network services (i.e. "Windows Domain Membership" button in YaST). "PAM" is a large area of Linux I still don't fully comprehend, but once you figure out how to successfully edit your PAM files the way you want, I'm confident you'll be able to get Ubuntu to connect...

@David1357, Frets on Fire was fun (I even bought a PS2 to PC adapter for my guitar).

@farslayer, Sweet idea. I like magazines, although I guess these won't have too many pretty pictures.



This weekend, I'm going to practice creating a new partition, moving my /home there, and permanently mounting it.
My apt. relies on Mac products so heavily, I don't think I could do without iTunes. I'd really like to transform my Windows web/file server into Linux. Then I could really make use of the apache suggestions.

Plenty of pictures in those publications : )

and if you want to see what an app would look like. you can check out http://screenshots.debian.net/

Whoever came up with the screenshots site, now there was an interesting idea..