My generic "So you want to learn Linux..." speech

Okay, so you're interested in Linux? (which, btw, I perfer to call GNU/Linux..)

My first point: Linux is not for everyone. Only attempt to dive into Linux if you are serious about computing, not because it's trendy. You will grok at a command line. If this scares you, too bad. Don't whine for a GUI, either, it's best you know how to do everything without X.

My second point: Never give up. Just because you can't get your modem to work or you accidentally corrupted your MBR doesn't mean Linux is not worth it. If you need to do a few reinstallations before you get the hang of it, that's fine. I only had to reinstall once or twice. My friend Jeff did it about ten dozen.

Now, so you've got that. Now... Chances are your modem sucks. Be prepared to get a new one if it doesn't work. Why? Most people have cheap winmodems, and those are no good. When buying a modem, look for an ISA one with jumpers (yes, it is VERY important that it have jumpers), or an external serial port one.

Now that I've said all that, pick up a generic book on UNIX, download or buy Debian, SuSE, Red Hat, etc... Install and do tons of experimentation. Prepare for a world like no other.

If you run into trouble, just go to places like #linux, linux.org, linux.com, linuxnewbie.org, pretty much anything remotely Linux. GNU/Linux users are very friendly to newbies with problems. One general tip: if you have more than 64MB of RAM, you'll want to put append="mem=XXXm" in /etc/lilo.conf, where XXX = number of megs of RAM.

Once you get to know the "trendy" unix, you may also want to look into other unices, like *BSD, Solaris, or the countless others.

So, you want to learn Linux... (which, btw, some people call "GNU/Linux"—Linux is the guts, but GNU provides indispensable utilities.)

First of all: while Linux has made vast strides in the desktop usability area, it's still sometimes a fucking pain in the ass to work with. Sometimes, magically, everything will work fine. Other times, the default install will have your mouse wheel be broken, or your printers unrecognized. There are fixes for this; Google is your friend.

Secondly: Red Hat is not Linux. Suse is not Linux. Debian is not Linux. They are Linux distributions. That is, they take the OS (i.e., Linux), and add a whole metric fuckton of third-party programs (many from GNU, hence "GNU/Linux"), and bundle them all together. And then, uh, distribute them, with their own customizations. Sometimes with technical support, sometimes just because they think it's cool.

Thirdly: Linux veterans are insanely helpful towards newbies. It is often joked that the fastest way to get help about Linux is to say "Linux is gay. In Windows, I can do , but Linux can't do that." Within minutes, you'll have tens of Linux users enumerating to you the many ways you could accomplish that. Please use this knowledge only for good and never for evil.

Fourth—err... N-ly: you must understand that Linux is by programmers, for programmers. The documentation will often be cryptic, serving only as a reminder for those who know how things work but forgot the exact syntax. Wizards (automated set-up tools, a la Windows) will be few and far between; when they exist, they often won't work.

Having given you this random, aimless advice, I'll close with some concrete suggestions. These suggestions, by the way, take as a premise that you want to learn Linux, not just use it. That is, you wish to gain a deeper understanding of it, rather than just using Mozilla or BitchX (not that there's anything wrong with that):

• Learn how to use the shell—and generally, this means bash. Become Bourne Again. Use tab completion. If nothing else, understand bash's for loop syntax—it's awesome.
• Learn a text editor. I recommend nano or pico for beginners. Following that, I'd say emacs—though, if you're feeling adventurous, vim is an option, too. (Don't stop after the first step—emacs/vim are insanely powerful, compared to nano/pico.
• Don't log in as root; don't do anything in root if you're not sure that it's a good idea. Use sudo. Just remember the proverb: to err is human; to really fuck up, it takes root privs. There's practically nothing you can do that will fuck up your system if you're running as a normal user—you can break your account, yes, but your system will remain rock solid.
• Use Mandrake. Personal experience suggests that this is the most painless install. (This is as of 2 years ago, when I was a n00b. Please /msg me with any other suggestions, and I'll note them below.)
• If you're feeling really adventurous, use Debian or Gentoo. There's a lot less hand-holding. If you're feeling suicidally adventurous, use Linux From Scratch.
• Still in the "adventurous" category, learn a scripting language. I'd recommend Perl or Python.
• Once you get comfortable with your default desktop environment (KDE or Gnome), switch to just a window manager. I'm a big fan of FVWM's simplicity, but this is obviously a matter of personal preference.
• Last (and most important): have a mentor. Have someone to whom you can ask random questions and get a quick answer. Obviously, this is an ideal; in a pinch, the Internet can substitute for such a person... just as long as your computer still functions well enough to use it.

In closing, I feel like a lot has changed since tftv256's writeup above. Yes, don't use a WinModem, and yes, some hardware won't work (but not much). But I agree with hir on one point: never give up. It may be a lot of trouble, but being able to customize your computer as much as you want is a great reward. Good luck!

If anyone has any Linux questions that can fit in a /msg, by all means ask me. Corrections/comments to this writeup welcome.

Really, how to learn how to understand and use Linux

Nothing worthwile in life can be learned by watching a ten-minute video. The best way to learn Linux, and especially the command line, is to use it. install it, use it, and when it breaks (as it may well), figure out what went wrong and then find out how to fix it.

I'd honestly recommend using a spare system or even a hypervisor to manage a few virtual machines, and install a couple of distros, one of which, after your first attempts with others) could be ARch Linux (which will require some reading of the Arch Wiki and managing the command line). this will give you a better understanding of what is required to operate the computer, and what each of the various components do (the kernel, disks and filesystems, networking, sound, memory, init systems, graphical interfaces and the like). Once you've put your own OS together, you will know a great deal about how Linux works, and how to use and fix it. You'll be well on your way to having he knowledge required of a systems administrator, even on a small scale. Single-board computers are an inexpensive and readily available way of getting Linux systems for testing and discovery.

Why use it.

Windows 10 is reaching the end of its support by Microsoft, and many computers will not be able to install Windows 11. As a consequence, many people are going to want to install and use Linux to avoid scrapping an otherwise valuable bit of kit. Honestly, setting things up from a command line will give you greater understanding than just installing Ubuntu (which spoon-feeds the user!) You will read a good deal, and do even more; all this will serve you well, and you will learn. Have an idea of what you want to use it for—set up a server, use it as a workstation or router/firewall, and go for it. If you feel confident, think about one of the "harder" Linuxes, you'll end up with a better understanding of how Linux works.

Failing that, install your hand-holding distro of choice and just determine to do as much from the command line as you can. Use it to install and set up software, learn how to edit config files by hand. Will it be easy? No, it will not. But it will certainly be rewarding and give you insight into how things really work, and you will gain the confidence you need to move forward. You will find many tutorials on YouTube and the general Web to get you started, and when you begin to apply the lessons you're learning, you will curse at your computer, Richard Stallman, Linus Torvalds and their kin. And at the end you will have a powerful, customisable and versatile operating system. Will it do everything you want? Probably not right away, or at first glance (see Linux for the common person); if you're a gamer, you will still mostly need Windows (Linux gaming is getting better but it's not quite there just yet). There is some software that's just not available within linux; Microsoft's Office and all Adobe software is Windows/Mac only. There are alternatives, but of course they aren't 100% what you're accustomed to; you're pretty much forced into good deal of re-learning and a change of workflow. Sometimes it's possible, after a little tweaking, to get what you want, and whilst you may se that as a disadvantage, i see it as a positive as I learn to solve problems and try new solutions. yourself.

Of course one of Linux's strengths (the choice and customisability) can also be a weakness as the decisions to be made can be overwhelming to a newcomer. Developers have created desktop environments with newbies in mind, but there is almost too much choice; thankfully it's easy enough to install and use almost anything. Many distros are developed with newbies in mind (Pop!OS and Linux Mint come to mind, each designed to make Apple or Windows users comfortable. I've tried both myself, and installed both these distros for other people (likely much less techy than you…) and they're still having a good time. It's easy enough, and if you're reluctant to install it on a system a first, most distros allow you to run it purely from an ISO image installed to a USB stick, withut touching the computer itself.

If you have some basic *nix knowledge and patience, then Debian Linux would be my recommendation. They have installations for both server and workstation use and their support forums are pretty darned good. If you want an install that just works, Debian Stable is your best pick, but don't overlook Testing, which incorporates more updates to software so you can stay abreast of developments. If you need more leading edge, Debian Sid (aka "unstable") updates more frequently (so it's "unstable" in terms of its build not the daily running). Beyond that I'm not making any recommendations, unless you want to discuss things in more detail!

As a footnote, if you have a non-upgradable-to Windows 11 computer but you don't want to install Linux on it, I will accept it.

$ xclip -o | wc -w
859