Linux-Noob Forums

Hey guys,

 

my name is Adam and I am new to linux, and when I say new..I mean NEW!!! I've tinkered around with it a little bit, read some online help posts to get some things working... but it was mainly copy paste stuff.... does anyone recommend somewhere I can go to learn what all the commands do??

 

for instance I have used sudo command before, but don't really know what it means and I wouldn't know how to use it if I needed to unless I was reading it online.

 

 

as far as experience, I am in IT support, supporting mac and windows computers both hardware and software, but I want to learn how to use linux and possibly use linux as a server for files, web, and email. right now, I have Ubuntu, is there one that is recommended? I Read that I should start out with fedora though, will it be that much different?

 

 

I have been through this site many times before now, I don't know why i just didn't sign up way before this... well anyways, thanks in advance guys/gals!

 

-Adam

Hi Adam. Welcome to Linux and welcome to this site! :)

 

Quote:does anyone recommend somewhere I can go to learn what all the commands do??

 

Well, there are a lot of different commands! Where do we start? [img]<___base_url___>//public/style_emoticons/default/wink.png[/img]

 

My experience is that if you want to become proficient with Linux, including using the command line, the best way is to play around with things. Set yourself a specific project around doing something with Linux that you find interesting. A topic-based approach like this means you can learn transferrable command line skills as you go along, but also have the satisfaction of having an outcome at the end of a little project. With each project, you'll learn a lot about that specific thing, but also pick up a few more general concepts and skills as you go along.

 

Feel free to explore some of your ideas and interests around file servers, web servers and so on in other forum areas and let us know what software you're playing around with and how you're getting on.

 

Quote:for instance I have used sudo command before, but don't really know what it means and I wouldn't know how to use it if I needed to unless I was reading it online.

 

You'll find the sudo command showing up quite frequently, particularly in Ubuntu and its derivatives. What sudo actually means is 'superuser do', or "do this action as the superuser" (the administrator). In many of these tutorials, you're prefixing a command with sudo so that you can make some change that requires admin privileges. Running the same command without sudo will probably tell you that you're not allowed to do that!

 

Quote:I want to learn how to use linux and possibly use linux as a server for files, web, and email. right now, I have Ubuntu, is there one that is recommended? I Read that I should start out with fedora though, will it be that much different?

 

Ubuntu makes a fine choice, and so does Fedora! Most of the skills you'll learn, particularly with the command line, are transferrable to other distributions. There are just usually a few specific differences here and there -- for example, the way Ubuntu organises the configuration files used for the Apache web server is a little different to Fedora, but the actual format of the configuration is the same.

 

The only way to discover which distribution you prefer is to play with a few. Perhaps you could download a few, boot into their live CDs, or even use something like VirtualBox to install several in virtual machines without affecting your main system. If you're happy with Ubuntu for now, though, it will be a great place to get started.

 

Do let us know how you get on with Linux, and, again, a warm welcome! :)

Hello Adam!!

 

Welcome to Linux and welcome to the forums :)Basically what hybrid said I agree with. I started out maybe a year ago or so with Linux, and recently started do small projects and still got some planned. I've been learning more by setting up a project and doing and learning from my mistakes. There's always some useful sites that can help you out with specifically on getting to know the CLI(command line interface). I'm no expert on that area yet, but it takes time and you will get better the more you work with it. Here's two sites you may find useful:

 

http://linuxcommand.org/

http://www.linux-tutorial.info/modules.p...pageid=224

 

And the forums contain useful posts/topics too. And if you have any questions or get stuck on anything just make a new topic :)

Cheers!!

Quote:Hey guys, my name is Adam and I am new to linux, and when I say new..I mean NEW!!!

Welcome!

Quote:I've tinkered around with it a little bit, read some online help posts to get some things working... but it was mainly copy paste stuff.... does anyone recommend somewhere I can go to learn what all the commands do??

No, simply because... (a) there's so many of them, and (B) there's no guarantee that those commands all exist on your system. You may as well ask "is there a site that shows ALL the applications installed under Windows?".

 

However, there ARE two areas you may want to look at.

 

Firstly, most commands are located in your PATH variable:







.. so if you drop into those directories and do a directory listing, you'll see what commands you have access to. The ones in /usr/bin (and /bin) are the normal ones most people use. /usr/local/bin tend to be custom system-wide commands, and the ones in my binary directory (/home/dungeon/bin) are specific to me. Kinda like "My Documents" dir.

 

Secondly, you can use the help pages on Linux to read up about each command, known as the MAN pages. See the "RTFM-free" bit above? It means "Read The Functional Manpage" (I think) because the man pages contain information relating to the function of that command. To use it, simply type "man" followed by the command, eg:







 

Now, I'm gonna get a kicking from the site owner for pulling the RTFM on you there, but I would be failing in my duty if I didn't at least make you aware of that online help. In my experience, I haven't come across ANYONE that knows every command, but most Linux geeks know of the man pages and always rely on those to find out what they don't know.

 

Just as another pointer: if you want to "google" (search) the man pages, use the "-k" option for a keyword search. For instance, searching for commands to do with users, use:







That will run through your guides and pull out any lines containing "user" in the content.

 

Quote:for instance I have used sudo command before, but don't really know what it means and I wouldn't know how to use it if I needed to unless I was reading it online. as far as experience, I am in IT support, supporting mac and windows computers both hardware and software, but I want to learn how to use linux and possibly use linux as a server for files, web, and email. right now, I have Ubuntu, is there one that is recommended?

Ubuntu's a good place to start out. It's actually much easier than most Linuxes, so stick to that for the time being.

 

Quote:I Read that I should start out with fedora though, will it be that much different? I have been through this site many times before now, I don't know why i just didn't sign up way before this... well anyways, thanks in advance guys/gals! -Adam

If you play with Ubuntu then try Fedora, you'll think "Windows7 and Windows Vista" or "Windows 2000 and Windows ME". They're pretty similar, what works on one works on the other in most cases, just looks and feels slightly different in some cases.

 

I was bought up on Fedora/RedHat stuff before I got into Debian/Ubuntu. I'm still more comfortable in a RPM-based environment (RH/Fedora/CentOS/ScientificLinux/Mandrake/Suse/etc....) but I'd recommend sticking to ubuntu for the time being - I feel it's a MUCH easier newbie system.

Quote:What sudo actually means is 'superuser do', or "do this action as the superuser" (the administrator).

 

You know I said I'll get a kicking from the site owner? I'm now going to get a kicking from his assistant, too!

 

"sudo" actually means "switch user do" - bit like the Windows "RunAs".

 

However, in Windows, the "RunAs" is generally used to "run as Administrator" - and in Ubuntu, sudo is generally used to "switch to root to run this command" but could just as easily be configured to "switch dave to adam to run this command with adam's privileges".

 

Just thought I'd clear that up, and hope I didn't introduce any further confusion!

haha.. That kinda helps me get started, thanks! I'm sure ill be posting more things as I dive deeper into it, for now I haven't started anything...mainly because I haven't had the time [img]<___base_url___>//public/style_emoticons/default/tongue.png[/img]

That sounds familiar not having much time :P Have you decided which Linux distro you're going to try out first yet?

well welcome to the site, we are all noobs, or at least, I am :-)

Hey! its been a long while haha sorry for such a late reply... yeah I have started messing around with Ubuntu and Mint actually...and my boss asked me if I could check out oracle VM....and I'm pretty sure if I'm over my head (its not big deal he knows I'm not an expert but he just wanted to see if we could get a demo machine up) but having issues with using oracle VM haha which is a good thing because I had to edit ALOT using the command line, so i got used to using VI editor and many different commands :P

Glad you found your way back again :) Awesome, post in the forums if you get stuck on anything and there's also lots of info already here.