Learn linux from zero???

gouki2005

i want to elarn linux i barely know linux (almost nothing) can you recommend me some book like firt a book for begginers and then a book for intermediate or advance user.

where i can find some videos like CBTnuggets for linux or any other series ??

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PC509

Personally, the first thing I would do is install Oracle VirtualBox (used to be Sun). Install CentOS or Ubuntu. Then, play with it for a little bit to learn the basics. You'll learn more that way than from a book that just lists the basics. Do updates, change your password, etc. from a command terminal.

I used Linux for Dummies and went from there. BUT, without spending any money, look to see what your library has. I've found dozens of books on Linux, free to borrow. Some good, some not so good. But, some were good for me because of the experience I've had and my learning/reading style. I've found some that were WAY too thin and just taught the absolute basics which could be for any OS, barely covered Linux (although all examples were Linux, it covered more of the interaction with a PC).

I like starting at an intermediate level and forcing my way to that level. Sometimes the basics are just too basic and I can just figure those ones out. Depends on your comfort level.

CBTNuggets has a good series on Linux+, which helps out.

varelg

Get the Ubuntu docs from its website and like PC509 said, get tbe VBox and install Ubuntu on it, work through those ubuntu books (won't take long time really). That's for starters. Once you get starters down, you'll be able to choose more advanced book on linux by yourself. Sobell's series of books on Ubuntu, Red Hat and shell programming wermly recommended, although there is a lot of other good Linux literature over there.
Good luck and have fun

ehnde

You could go all in, uninstall Windows (or whatever you are using) and install linux on your computer. You learn real quick that way

Forsaken_GA

ehnde wrote: »

You could go all in, uninstall Windows (or whatever you are using) and install linux on your computer. You learn real quick that way

This is actually the best way to learn it, IMHO. Total immersion is always the best teacher, and for nearly anything you want to do, google is your friend. There's that old saying about necessity being the mother of all invention, and the same thing goes for learning.

But do not just learn linux from a users perspective. Most of the OS's will easily install as a desktop environment that you can just point and click your way through. If you want to learn linux through and through, you need to learn it from the server admin side as well, and that means getting really comfortable with the commandline.

No Starch Press makes a very good book for beginning server admins called Building a Server with FreeBSD 7. Now, if your goal is Linux, I don't recommend buying the book (it your goal is more appropriately Unix in general, it's a pretty good starting point), but it's table of contents is viewable on amazon. I recommend any new server admin pick a distro, install it barebones, and then try and replicate in Linux what that book tries to get you to do in FreeBSD. It will tell you really quick whether or not you've got the bones to be a good unix admin.

The O'Reily LPIC1 book is also a very good beginners primer, and makes a pretty good desk reference too.

ehnde

I feel like a sadist for even mentioning this....there's no reason to do it for Linux+ but LFS Project Homepage

If you install linux from scratch it would be like taking a 67 Mustang Convertible Chassis from a junkyard and putting in a motor, transmission, interior, EVERYTHING.

You do it by bootstrapping your linux installation from source code from a chroot environment. It's not difficult because the LFS website gives you step-by-step instructions...but it does take a very long time to do.

It teaches you how operating systems work "under the hood" (they all have certain similarities, like having a kernel), you get 9000 linux nerd cool points, and a Linus Torvalds baseball card signed by the man himself (I'm lying).

burbankmarc

ehnde wrote: »

I feel like a sadist for even mentioning this....there's no reason to do it for Linux+ but LFS Project Homepage

Not a bad idea. Similarly you can do a stage 1 Gentoo install. That's how I learned linux about 10 years ago, went through the stage 1 install many, many times.

There's really no practicality for using a source based distro anymore, aside from it's learning aspects.

ksc

I read Sybex study guide and used Fedora w/ testout. I recommend using an older version like 14 or 13 and not the newer 15 as they have changed some bits around in the filesystem. Play around and take notes from the video. You will get use to the cmd line soon enough. Welcome to the most underrated OS!

Forsaken_GA

ksc wrote: »

I read Sybex study guide and used Fedora w/ testout. I recommend using an older version like 14 or 13 and not the newer 15 as they have changed some bits around in the filesystem. Play around and take notes from the video. You will get use to the cmd line soon enough. Welcome to the most underrated OS!

Linux (or unix in general) is hardly underrated. I'd be willing to bet that the majority of non-end user machines in the world are running some form of unix, whether it's a custom embedded image, or a direct install. The internet was built on the back of *x operating systems, long before Windows 3.1 became the de facto standard for desktop usage.

YuckTheFankees

I switched from Windows 7 to Ubuntu today because I want to focus on my linux skills and bash shell. I try to use bash shell for mostly everything and its working out really well. I'm not going to lie, it feels pretty cool being able to use the command line