Anxious Newbie wanting to learn Linux.

[eXtremity]

Hey guys. This is my first post, so I'm a little nervous.

I've had a lot of trouble coming to the conclusion on which Linux distro I am to uptake, concerning what I want to do.

Can anyone offer me the most appropriate distro for someone who:

1) Is a COMPLETE NEWBIE
2) Has the time and patience to learn Linux. (In other words, I want to learn the Linux OS)

I've been intrigued by what Linux has to offer and furthermore want to learn and understand what Linux is all about .

Thanks in advanced.

EDIT: Oh, and I don't want a distro which "disguises" what Linux is really all about.

[reed9]

Everyone is going to have different opinions on this. The best thing is probably to use a few different distros and see what you like and works for you. You are able to get under the hood in newbie oriented distros just as well as "advanced" distros, though it may not always be as transparent.

I personally recommend going with something like Linux Mint or Ubuntu in the beginning just to get a hang of things and then experimenting with other distros.

However, if you're game and don't mind doing a lot of research on your own, you can always try out something like Arch or Slackware.

[leep01]

I agree with reed9, Ubuntu or something similar would be a great way to get started, when I got started myself it was with Fedora and then moved onto Ubuntu, which over time paved the way and opened up things such as Gentoo and the more advanced distributions which are available.

What do you have in your mind that you want to learn about or what area's most interest you? - from my experience I find certain area's more interesting than others (for me I don't have much knowledge of X windows (yet) but enjoy configuring different Server services such as Samba/Apache, learning about the networking side of things and running commands.

As I am sure you know there are 100's of guides/how-to's and articles that offer tonnes of help to get started, I don't think Ubuntu or the mainstream distro's gloss over Linux too much and diguise the nuts and bolts of what it is doing, Linux is Linux and everything inside can be picked apart and studied to see exactly how it all works

Good Luck

[nujinini]

Everyone is going to have different opinions on this. The best thing is probably to use a few different distros and see what you like and works for you. You are able to get under the hood in newbie oriented distros just as well as "advanced" distros, though it may not always be as transparent.

I personally recommend going with something like Linux Mint or Ubuntu in the beginning just to get a hang of things and then experimenting with other distros.

However, if you're game and don't mind doing a lot of research on your own, you can always try out something like Arch or Slackware.

Couldn't have agreed more with this suggestion! :thumbsup:

[eXtremity]

Hey guys, thank you SO much for helping me out here. I think I will try Ubuntu to get the feel of things, and then I may make the switch to Slackware.

I'm so excited! Time to learn.

Thanks again guys. Really appreciate it.

[Irithori]

Hmm,
"complete newbie" and "no disguise, have time to learn" are somewhat diametral opposing points..

In general, as already mentioned, ubuntu and mint are recommended to newbies.
These are solid and userfriendly distributions.
Taking that as a basis, you can always start a terminal and dive into the system (so to say )

If you want to know exactly what makes linux tick, then you can build one yourself.
Piece by piece:
Welcome to Linux From Scratch!
Disclaimer: Yes, this is the hard way.


Additionaly, you might want to read (a lot).
To name just a few:
Filesystem Hierarchy Standard
Amazon.com: UNIX and Linux System Administration Handbook (4th Edition) (9780131480056): Evi Nemeth, Garth Snyder, Trent R. Hein, Ben Whaley: Books
Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide
Understanding the Linux Kernel, Third Edition - O'Reilly Media

[eXtremity]

Yes. I read through LFS but apparently it required some experience?

Is it still possible to be used by a newb like me?

[reed9]

Yes. I read through LFS but apparently it required some experience?

Is it still possible to be used by a newb like me?

Possible? Yes. Not easy though. This isn't something you just start using, but will likely take days or weeks to get to even a basic system. (Depending on your system, just compiling large programs can take hours or days.)

[Irithori]

If you have a basic understanding of computers and processes, especially source vs binary files, and also like a challenge, then yes. It is possible.

But ubuntu/mint/fedora/etc is the easier and possibly more fun road, as results are faster to achieve.

[eXtremity]

Possible? Yes. Not easy though. This isn't something you just start using, but will likely take days or weeks to get to even a basic system. (Depending on your system, just compiling large programs can take hours or days.)

But it sounds SO interesting !
I am so eager !

So i'm thinking I start with Ubuntu, move to Slackware, and then go by doing it my self with the LFS

So exciteeeeeeeedd!

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP GUYS !