I want to learn Linux?

flash23

what book or resource would you recommend to learn linux? I have no experience with linux what so ever.

Slowhand

There's no 'one way' to learn Linux, (aside from installing a distro and messing around with it,) but I can tell you what I did in preparation for taking the Linux+ exam.

I first worked my way through the Sybex book for Linux+, (an older version, that link is for the current book.) I also picked up a copy of Running Linux. It's getting a little long in the tooth, the latest edition being from 2004, but it's still an excellent book. I also looked through Linux in a Nutshell. It gives a fairly concise overview of common Linux commands, programs, and a whole slew of other things.

As for what distributions to work with, I worked primarily with the three flavors mentioned in the Linux+ prep material: Red Hat*, Debian, and Slackware. You'll get a chance to see the differences between rpm-based distros, ones that use the Debian package manager, and the wonderful world of tarballs and custom-compiled code on Slackware. There are, of course, lots and lots of excellent distros available but those are the ones I felt gave me the best overview of what's out there, along with messing around with FreeBSD, to get a taste for more UNIX-like operating systems.

I hope this gives you some things to start with and an idea of where you're going. I'm sure you'll find books and other resources that will work for you, as well as flavors of Linux you can really dig your teeth into and learn about. Good luck on your studies, and feel free to ask any questions you need as you move forward.




*(For Red Hat distros, you can look at either Red Hat's own free OS, Fedora, or an operating system that is a free version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, CentOS.)

Slowhand

As for resources pertaining to the LPI, RHCE, and other exams, I'll leave that to the rest of the TE crew to answer. (I sat for the Linux+, then kind of dropped out of the open-source world to pursue my CCNA.)

Chris:/*

I would pick up a book on the Bash Shell and Linux Administration. Niether one is a simple book to start out with but if you want real Linux knowledge and not just "How do I do this?" but instead "How does this work?" they are the way to go.

Amazon.com: Learning the bash Shell: Unix Shell Programming (In a Nutshell (O'Reilly)) (9780596009656): Cameron Newham: Books
Amazon.com: UNIX and Linux System Administration Handbook (4th Edition) (9780131480056): Evi Nemeth, Garth Snyder, Trent R. Hein, Ben Whaley: Books

flash23

thanks for the suggestion I'm gonna check the books you guys recommended out

joneno

Amazon.com: UNIX and Linux System Administration Handbook (4th Edition) (9780131480056): Evi Nemeth, Garth Snyder, Trent R. Hein, Ben Whaley: Books
I did check the book out, cos I'm also a new Linux (Centos, Rhel & Fedora) convert I must confess the book got a lot of good good stuff in it...lol. Thanks for the post.

cyberguypr

Check out this thread: http://www.techexams.net/forums/off-topic/63602-want-learn-linux.html

The guys here gave me tons of ideas. I'm right where you are at, starting from zero.

Mishra

linuxhomenetworking.com

Only site that just tells you how to install and run the stuff. I just followed the examples and learn a ton of stuff info.