Hello allI'm new here and this is my first time posting.

I'm new to computers and linux aswell. I've been doing quite abit of research for the past two weeks about linux and have come to the conclusion that I want it to be my main o.s. Now I don't just want to use it for web browsing, emails, downloading etc. I want to learn it inside and out. I want to be able to do everything from the command line, set up servers and home networks, write programs specifically for linux, help in the debugging stages, be able to work on the kernel and hopefully one day be able to write my own distro. Now I know this is going to entail ALOT of work and believe me I'm up for it. I also know I'm going to have to take baby steps. Now that I've listed my goals I was hoping someone could point me in the right direction. I've downloaded a free ebook called the linux starter pack, I think I got it from www.tldp.org. It recommends starting with ubuntu and shows you how to do alot through the G.U.I.

1.)Is this a good place to start?
2.)What should I start learning after the linux starter pack?
3.)I have an A+ book and there's alot of valuable info about computers in it, but all the os info is windows. Should I still read this or is there a linux book that will give you the same knowledge about computers and also linux?
4.)Should I read the A+ and learn windows before I get into linux?

I know this quite abit of questions and I would really appreciate any guidance. I expect to have to do alot of reading so if you have any recommendations for books free or otherwise, please feel free to recommend.

Thank you.

TLDP is a great resource..I'd bookmark it if I was you. Ubuntu (or Kubuntu...same thing, just different desktop environments), are great distros for Windows to Linux 'migrants', so that would be a good place to start. Also, check the different distro web sites, and download the latest versions, to save yourself some headaches.

Yes.

That's like asking "how high is up?". That depends on what you want to do. Do you want to program? Graphics? Web development? Really, the sky is the limit...pick something that interests you, and delve into it. Try to solve a particular problem at the same time, too...something like making your digital cameras work under Linux, then figuring out the various photo management programs, to find out which you like best.

Knowledge is never a bad thing to have. Learn what you can about the subject in general, and it'll give you a better backdrop to apply specific knowledge to.

Don't have to learn Windows to learn Linux...they're both different from each other, as they are both different from Mac. See above about getting a good broad base of knowledge.

That's what the site is here for...enjoy. Come back for more info as you need it. The best thing I can recommend is to read the documentation and man pages for whatever you're having a problem with, and Google for answers first. You'll learn more, faster, if you figure it out yourself. When you come here, you'll also be able to ask a detailed question, since you'll know enough about things to ask a GOOD question.

I would say ubuntu is a pretty good place to start. It will get you used to the way linux does things. You already started at a good place with TLDP.org.

Some great things to start learning.

bash / or any shell for that matter. Also try a couple of them and find which one you like.

shell scripting.

the file system (this can differ a little from system to system)

break things and then try and fix them.

As for a book. I keep Linux Administration Handbook on my desk at all times. It have been a great reference.

Try and do as much through the command line as possible. The gui will hold you back.(That is my opinion of course.)

tldp.org is a good bookmark. See also

http://rute.2038bug.com/index.html.gz
http://www.linuxtopia.org/index.html

Hello guys,

Thank you for your replies!!! Sorry I didn't reply sooner but I had some hardware issues with my computer.

TB0ne-Once I've gotten a firm grasp of things I want to learn programming. After some research I've decided my first language should be Python. And after installing ubuntu I found through the terminal that is was already installed. Awesome!!!

jstephens84-I found some bash ebooks on tldp that I downloaded and I also found another intro to linux book by Machtelt Garrels that teaches you everything using the terminal rather than the gui.

chrism01-Those two links are great, packed with info.

So thank you again for all the advice and I look forward to coming back here to get help and once I have more experience I look forward to returning the favour

Once you get the grasp with bash and python, and you are relatively comfortable with the command line, you can move into Gentoo and Linux From Scratch, those two will certainly help you improve your understanding about how all the pieces fit to form a proper distro. That will surely be a good thing for you if your final goal is to build your own distribution.

Hey i92guboj, thanks for your advice. I've heard of LFS but didn't know much about it. I downloaded the free ebook, and I'm really looking forward to it. I'm going to look up Gentoo aswell. Not to get too far ahead of myself but would I be able to create my own linux distribution using the c language or is LFS as far as one could go?

A "distribution" is just a linux kernel and a handful of programs that someone decide to put together. LFS is just a guide, a set of documents, that tell you how to create your own distro from scratch. There really isn't anything more "advanced", you can't really go deeper than that in which regards the creation of a distribution. That's why it's called "linux from scratch"

Gentoo is mostly the same, but with a package manager which takes care of the dependencies, something that LFS lacks.

C is just a programming language, it's used to write programs. It really hasn't anything to do with the creation of a distribution.