This is for those who are thinking about Linux

[elija]

This is for those who are thinking about Linux but are worried about the scary task of learning a whole new operating system.

Don't try and learn the operating system!

For every day tasks, word processing, spreadsheets internet access and so on any one of the main GUI's (Gnome, KDE, XFCE etc) will be similar enough to what you are used to for you to find your way around easily enough. There will be a menu with your applications on it and they will also look similar. Heck, if you have started your open source journey while on Windows some of them will be the same.

• Firefox
• Thunderbird
• Open Office
• The GIMP
• Opera (Ok It's not Open Source but you get my drift)

You should aim to only learn something about Linux when you have a real world need. This is a great incentive to learn and provides a definite reward for so doing. Over the last couple of years while I have been using Linux I have used "the don't learn until I need to" method and now can (among other things)

• Use my chosen distro for my day to day computing
• Configure Apache Web Servers
• Configure and manage MySQL Database servers
• Command Line File Management
• Command Line Process Management
• Basic network configuration using the command line
• Samba configuration
• Subversion configuration
• Basic bash scripting

Apart from the first item in the above list I didn't need to learn any of them to handle basic computing. Just recently at work, I had a need to fix some broken NFS shares and add some new ones, so I leared aout NFS. I also had to ensure the shares mounted at boot time on our web servers so I learned about fstab.

I recently installed a nifty bit of backup software and as a result learned about hard links and due to a problem I was experiencing with it forgetting the backup to directory on my external USB hard drive every time I booted the PC, I (and without using Google) added a line to my fstab to automatically mount it, thus solving the problem.

Now there are some differences that you will need to understand immediately.

Software Installation
Unlike Windows, the normal method of installation is through your distributions software repository. You can access this using the terminal or via a GUI application. I'm not going to go into details here as it varies among distributions. This will feel completely alien at first but you will come to love it.

Driver installation
Again with Linux, for the most part you won't need to download drivers from the internet, they may in the repository or there may even be a specific GUI for handling hardware drivers. Typically, the only drivers you may need to install are for your 3D graphics card or your wireless network card.

[rokytnji]

As Said (kinda) in " O'Brother where out thou" He's Bonafide. He's a Keeper( Sticky)!

[questio verum]

Well said, Elija!

When approaching any new learning challenge, only make things as complex as necessary, and not a bit more. Hey, it worked for Einstein.
I agree with Roky... it would make a great sticky.

qv

[aluminumspleen]

Required reading for all those taking the plunge. Nicely done, Elija!

[hazel]

I learned a lot through what I call "dictionary drift". You know, you try to look something up in a dictionary or encyclopedia and while you are leafing through to find it, you catch sight of an entry on something completely different that looks fascinating so you stop to read it, and that leads to something else...

Man and info pages are like that for me, and I was using them a lot in the early days. I didn't actually set out to "learn Linux" but one thing led to another.

[bigtomrodney]

I learned a lot through what I call "dictionary drift". You know, you try to look something up in a dictionary or encyclopedia and while you are leafing through to find it, you catch sight of an entry on something completely different that looks fascinating so you stop to read it, and that leads to something else...

I just thought that was every visit to Wikipedia....

Seriously though, this is how I've learned pretty much everything I know on any subject. I just trawl data, bouncing from one thing onto the next until I've consumed as much as I can.