New to Linux.

I have wanted to get some Linux experience for a REALLY long time.

I have decided that I'm going to download it, put it on a 2nd partition and mess with it.

Okay, what's the best version out there and where can I get it from?
Command line will be good.

I'm going to start studying LPIC and Linux+

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mrhaun03

I hear good things about CentOS. www.centos.org I recently downloaded it but haven't gotten a chance to install yet...hopefully I'll get to that this weekend.

I hear a lot about Ubuntu as well. I guess it's more user friendly than the average distro.

I know there are a few other posts regarding this topic...look here:

http://www.techexams.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=17989
http://www.techexams.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=17524

I think there was a few other ones, but I couldn't find them.

Sulblk27

I just picked up a book: Linux (2007 edition) Bible- author- Negus, Christopher, has a variety of distros, approx 16....you can use quite a few as 'live-cd' (no install0. If your going for the test though, I think a new Linux+ in depth is due out (not sure when).
The dvd and cd also includes a few tools to work with....

Slowhand

If you're studying for the certs, then I'd recommend getting a hold of 'the big three': Fedora (RPM-based), Debian (Debian installer-based,) and Slackware (source-based installs). These are the three primary operating systems you'll come across when studying for the Linux+ and LPIC exams. Linux+ is heavier on Fedora, but the various LPI exams will actually ask you about the differences in the basics of these different distros, how the various installers work, and the foundations of the file structures. Beyond that, you just need to find a distro you're comfortable with and really get practicing. It's going to be key to know where important files are, what the paths are to particular tools and directories, and how to use various command-line tools (and their respective flags). For more information about various distros, and to get an idea of how many are out there, check out DistroWatch.

I'd say this is a good list of books to pick up, for starters:

Running Linux

Linux Network Administrator's Guide

Essential System Administration, Third Edition

Also, the "Unleashed" books on any particular OS you've decided to work with in-depth, is a good idea.

And this one is good for later on, once you've gotten your head around Linux concepts, and you want Linux and Unix to play nice with a Windows environment: Linux in a Windows World

Aside from the ins and outs of the various OS'es, you'll find that the biggest challenge is making the common tools you see on Linux work properly. You'll probably be working with DNS, web servers, file servers, security tools, monitoring tools, and the like. Take these as they come, but the most common ones are going to be useful to learn, since they transcend pretty much every distro, every flavor, and go back and forth between Unix and Linux, and even onto Windows.

Also, if you're just starting out, going through a whole course, like reading through the various Linux+ or LPIC-1 and LPIC-2 books, is a good idea. Along with that, the CBT Nuggets for both Linux+ and LPIC-1 and LPIC-2 are excellent. . . however, if found that the TestOut for Linux+ was excellent and really helped me get a grasp on where I was going with my *NIX training. I also used LinuxCBT quite a bit, but it tends to be more technology-oriented, and less towards specific certs; like if you want to learn all about Samba, all about BIND, or all about a specific OS or program.

Naturally, you don't want to forget about all the free help you can get out on the web. This site is an excellent place, as is LinuxQuestions, The Linux Documentation Project, as well as the various forums and help pages available on vendors' sites. When in doubt, Google it. If you don't find anything, ask for help on a forum. If you're still confused, pick up a book on the subject and work your way through the problem.

remyforbes777

I would say run CentOS. Its basically Red Hat Enerprise and the Linux+ is primarily a Red Hat based test. A lot of rpm based questions, some dpkg questions (Debian). I would check out Debian also. I run it primarily on my laptop. I rarely use windows. Definitely learn the rpm package manager flags.

Mishra

Debian is the bomb!

www.debian.org

deneb829

Slowhand wrote:

If you're studying for the certs, then I'd recommend getting a hold of 'the big three': Fedora (RPM-based), Debian (Debian installer-based,) and Slackware (source-based installs). These are the three primary operating systems you'll come across when studying for the Linux+ and LPIC exams.

I agree, if it is for the Linux+ you might want to stick with one of the more popular distros.

MAC_Addy

Download the i386, right?

Pash

if that is your chipset design yes.

CentOS is awesome, my colleague gave me a demo at work. Ive downloaded it this week and I plan to turn a spare box here at home into my web server. I have tightvnc ready to do most stuff remotely from my windows machine.

mgmguy1

I'm useing sabayon 3.26 Linux and about to upgrade to Sabayon Linux 3.3.

http://distrowatch.com/ <---good place to find about different Linux Destros

Pash

Yup.....so im spending my bank holiday weekend playing with linux...finally im not working overtime this weekend so i get a chance to do something I wan't to do for once. Im currently updating CENTOS using xwinlogon over ssh on my network. Seemingly there are some kernel updates so she requires a restart. After that, im gonna install stable apache,php and mysql versions and get it working.

Im determined to become the linux guru at work, so if we get more requests for linux web hosting im gonna be the man to see

JR-13

Good thread! Slowhand has some great info and links and his suggestions about the "big three" are very accurate. I just recently bought my Linux+ voucher and feel I'm at least 80% ready to take the test. I'm using Mandriva as my base, but have various distro's to use as well (Sabayon, Slackware, Ubuntu, Arch, PCLinuxOS, Zenwalk, openSUSE and SLED 10 to name a few).

Books are a key ingredient to information and helping to get certified, but practice pays off in the end. If anyone is unsure of their ability to install Linux or does not want to mess up their Windows partition, use Live CD/DVD's or use VMware Server (it's free) and get your hands dirty that way. I have VMware Server installed in my Ubuntu partition, on my XP Desktop system, and even have VMware Fusion for my MacBook running SLED 10, Windows XP and Solaris 10. I'd recommend using Fedora as the objectives basically state that you'll need to understand any of (straight from the CompTIA Linux+ Objectives .pdf) "SUSE, Red Hat, Mandrake (Mandriva), or TurboLinux" and since Fedora is basically the testing ground of what goes into RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux), it's a no-brainer. CentOS is another great system to use as it is a direct clone of RHEL (minus the branding) but does not come in the Live CD/DVD variety.

I'm reading and printing all of the stickied information regarding the modules of the Linux+ test from this awesome site. There's stuff in here that's repetitive, but there's also stuff in here that is very useful and taught me something I did not yet know. The first thing I did when I joined this site was to take the Linux+ practice exam, where I scored a 75%. The things that get me are the switches for some of the commands. I've been using Linux heavily since 2004 but only really used it for workstation/desktop purposes. The server side is where I'm concentrating now (SSH, Cron jobs, log files, etc.) so hopefully once I start feeling more confident on that side I'll be fine for my Linux+ test.

Oh, by the way, I'm a moderator at a website called Open Addict (Linux/BSD-oriented) and we have some good info and a friendly community if anyone is interested in joining our community as well. Hopefully within the next couple of weeks I'll be able to say I'm Linux+ certified! (I just got A+ certified in the beginning of June).