Where to Start
 

First of all, thank you for this forum and my opportunity to be heard. I think that what I'm asking for is mentoring. If someone came to me and said that they wanted to become a professional musician, I could be of incredible help. I could save that person tremendous time by helping them avoid huge time consuming pitfalls. This is what I need in becoming computer literate. When I approach a problem in the computer arena, I find that my background is, all at once, very sophisticated in some ways and, at the same time, very lacking in others. I want to set-up a home server using Linux which automatically backs up data, functions as an email client, utilizes RAID, is remotely accessible, etc. I would like to learn a programming language, in short, be computer literate, but I DON'T KNOW WHAT I DON'T KNOW. I don't know the sequence of event that I need to pursue to get from A to Z. Also,like in music, there is a way that professionals 'think about' their field that can only be passed down by a 'master'. I am more than willing to invest the time that it takes to 'enter the door', but I don't know where the 'door' is. Well, that's probably enough. Once again, I know that all of you are very busy people, and I appreciate the opportunity to be heard at all. Thanks Pianonanda

I'm actually working on an open-source/wiki engineer/techo training course at the moment (in my massive amounts of spare time) ... maybe one day it will be ready, but in the meantime I would suggest:

Assuming you have a Windows PC:

- install a virtualisation application ( VMware Server, VBox etc )
- pick a few linux distros and download the media
- practice installations
- practice package management
- learn your way around Linux

This provides a safe environment to play in, if anything goes wrong you just trash the VM and start again

cheers

Thanks for the help. That sounds like a great starting place. Oh, btw ,where are you taking the open-source/wiki engineer/techo training course? Philosophically, I feel strongly committed to Open-Source and would like to move in this direction as much as possible. Thanks, Pianonanda

A good place to start

http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm - compares differences in approach between MS v Linux
http://rute.2038bug.com/index.html.gz - a really good tutorial + howto

Good references (you'll need to know the cmd line well)

http://tldp.org/LDP/Bash-Beginners-G...tml/index.html
http://www.tldp.org/LDP/abs/html/

For distro (as you want a server) I'd prob recommend Centos www.centos.org, a free copy of commercial grade Linux (google RHEL) but have a look at www.distrowatch.com and try a few out.
Don't be afraid to break + re-install in the early days, we've all done it.

There's a lot(!) of free to read online books/guides at www.linuxtopia.org.

Good luck + welcome to LQ :)

A good place to start

http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm - compares differences in approach between MS v Linux
http://rute.2038bug.com/index.html.gz - a really good tutorial + howto

Good references (you'll need to know the cmd line well)

http://tldp.org/LDP/Bash-Beginners-G...tml/index.html
http://www.tldp.org/LDP/abs/html/

For distro (as you want a server) I'd prob recommend Centos www.centos.org, a free copy of commercial grade Linux (google RHEL) but have a look at www.distrowatch.com and try a few out.
Don't be afraid to break + re-install in the early days, we've all done it.

There's a lot(!) of free to read online books/guides at www.linuxtopia.org.

Good luck + welcome to LQ :)

"where are you taking the open-source/wiki engineer/techo training course?" ... I'll probably make it available when I get the first 2 levels complete

Hi,

Welcome to LQ and hopefully GNU/Linux!

I believe kbp is speaking of creation for a wiki about 'open-source/wiki engineer/techo training course'.

You can find loads of information on the Internet. Look at 'Linux Books & Online Magazines' section of 'Slackware-Links'. You could look at the 'Tutorial' Section for some hands on.

Just a few more links to aid you;

Linux Documentation Project
Rute Tutorial & Exposition
Linux Command Guide
Utimate Linux Newbie Guide
LinuxSelfHelp
Getting Started with Linux
Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide
Linux Home Networking

:hattip:
The above links and others can be found at 'Slackware-Links'. More than just Slackware® links!

Definitely try out a bunch of distros in a virtual environment. Play around without worrying about breaking them! I second chrism01: I lost count of how many times I've broken a system (though not for some time now - must mean I'm not trying as hard ;) ). Above all, have fun and welcome to linux and LQ!

First thing would be to start in the basic's. Learn your way around Linux. Learn to install it, install programs in it and remove programs from it using the package management tools, learn how to navigate and launch apps in the command line, and learn how to manipulate files and edit configurations from the command line. When you have mastered that you can move on to compiling stuff and from there to building databases, networking and writing apps.
It's going to take lots of time and effort. But it's worth it every second you invest in learning Linux.

Thanks to all of you who responded. I now have a huge, but pleasant task before me - following up on all of these great leads. Also, I found my local Dallas Linux group online and am planning to attend their April meeting this Saturday. I look to the day when I may be helpful to others in the group as you have been helpful to me.
Thanks again,
David (Pianonanda)

Hi David

Welcome to the club, hope you have as much fun as the rest of us have on our trip (still continuing for me)
Please mark the thread as SOLVED if you now have enough information. This helps others when searching to find
solutions as opposed to maybe a question still ongoing :)