If you really want the deep dive, look into LFS (Linux from scratch), besides that I've always been the learning by doing kind of guy. Got a problem? Search a solution and read up on the intricacies of the problem
this post was submitted on 13 Sep 2023
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Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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I can also suggest installing gentoo if LFS is a bit much, which is understandable. It won't have as much direct information as LFS but if you look up everything you don't understand and follow all the links you'll get a fairly good concept of the thing
I think they should try learning the basics with an easy to use and install distro (learning cmd like cd, lsblk, ls, ln...) then if they want more try to install arch Linux using the arch-install, then installing arch linux manually, and the diving into gentoo and then into LFS if they really want the time! (Also, for gentoo and lfs i'd recommend having a really good computer to make compilation time slower!)
Hey, I've tried some distros(fedora, ubuntu, vanilla...), I think it would be better If I learn. What I mean by learn is about understanding the concepts and, as I've been using fedora. I didnt really learn how cd, ls(although I use it a lot) works. So, I think learning through LFS is good and interesting. Do you think that it would be good if I learn from installing gentoo and arch, then go onto LFS
If you're interested, you will learn a lot of things by installing lfs, arch or gentoo, you'll just learn differents things with each distro and will learn in a different manner, all are interesting imo, but I think it's better to learn gradually than to learn from the hardest thing (lfs is the hardest in my opinion)
May be, I wasn't all interesting how the things work when you download it! Yeah, learning gradually will not only save time but also make the learning process enjoyable.
Hey, I will try to ubderstand LFS and build it myself. If it's much harder than I expected it to be, i will install gentoo. What about arch? Why install gentoo instead of arch? The installation process of gentoo will teach me about linux, the same could be said about arch?
Absolutely, arch will teach you quite a bit. Not nearly as much as Gentoo though. If you're going for learning how things work at a core level Gentoo is a fantastic place, though of course LFS will be better though more involved. I'm glad you're willing to take the harder path though!
As for arch, it'll teach you about mounting, user management, partitioning and partition management, an overview of how to set up a system and a few of the options available, and make you more comfortable with the command-line. With a few exceptions, that's about it. you can understand what makes arch arch in less than a day.
As for Gentoo, it's a guided experience that will teach you all of that but much, much more than arch will. With arch you could look more into it, and arch will be very well documented on what to do, but Gentoo will lay out the choices clearer with an explanation as to why. What is SystemD and why would you use something else (or, why you need so much to replace one thing?) How is networking built up? how do package managers work? What different kernels are available and why would you use them? What file system should you use? How does networking work on Linux? How do you install a tarball? What are firmware and microcode?
Just look at the index (legend?) on this page Gentoo Wiki and then this page Arch Wiki (on the left.) You'll see how much more Gentoo goes over
To be clear, I use arch on my main system, it's a fantastic OS and I'll likely use it until the heat death of the universe, but installing Gentoo, following the links, and searching up what I don't understand has taught me much more. LFS will, of course, teach you essentially everything though. It's a great option, and you're in for a fantastic journey. Once you're done you'll be the most impressive person in the room, if that room is full of us linux nerds
Once you’re done you’ll be the most impressive person in the room, if that room is full of us linux nerds
New life goal unlocked.
To make the learning process much more enjoyable, I'am going to try one of the OS'es either arch or gentoo. Which one will best for as a beginner? As gentoo has much more wiki than arch, which one will best suit for beginners(like me) to trying to understand things? Are there some resources, where I can learn some very basic stuff like about package manager, linux kernel, etc(if there, please share it here) and then it would be good if I go onto the installation and then onto the LFS thing. Learning linux would be a fantastic journey!
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When I was in your position one of the first things I did was to install arch. It is very similar to gentoo but you don't have to compile everything yourself which is just more practical in the beginning. You still have to learn all the basics and the arch wiki is one of the best of it's kind. I am myself to install gentoo as a next step but the procedures are very similar to arch. Also with arch you can reinstall the system in minutes (with enough proficiency) but on gentoo or LFS this depends on how beefy your computer is. With a regular desktop you will sit there staring at 5the compilation for quite some time which was the biggest drawback for me. It will cost you more time to repeat a process and for me the best thing on arch was to srcap everything and restart to try something new.
One last thing: You will always learn as much as you are willing to understand. You can install gentoo and arch withoit any problems by just following the great wiki pages but you won't learn much besides typing some commands. But doing some research wbile installing will help you far more. Also learning linux is a process. It's not only about the system itself but rather about the community it's culture as well as the philosophy behind it.
I've used both, and really, from an understanding standpoint, there's really not much difference between Arch and Gentoo.
Gentoo's main advantage are its USE flags, which the packages use to determine which "configure" options to select at compile time. However, installing and updating the system can take hours or days while you wait for everything to compile.
Arch, on the other hand, uses binary packages, which is faster, but lacks the flexibility of USE flags.
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Understanding is more important than installation! So, arch is a starting point and then gentoo for a little advanced user? Yes, the community and the philosophy behind the GNU/Linux made it a great thing to explore! As it have made me switch from windows to GNU/Linux!
I'd advise you to go with arch to familiarize yourself with the basics of a linux system. Everything is already precompiled for you so all the packages and the kernel shouldn't take long to download. If you then need a new challange you can also go with gentoo. It has some specific knowlegde around it's super powerful package manager and about configuring the kernel but besides that everthing should be very much the same. Of course this comes at the cost of compiling all the stuff you need by yourself so...
I plan to try arch and then gentoo, are there any resources which teach the very fundamentals of linux?
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Hey, thanks for the great suggestion. Looked onto it and it's great to build your own linux. I think that's really the essence of linux, the freedom to build it on your own.
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I've been dabbling with Linux for 30 years and it's only in the last few that it really clicked. I needed a project.
Go start a home server and give yourself projects to work on. Makes Linux very fast to pick up.
A simple distro, like one for a raspberry pi, is also helpful.
I actually would recommend learning a hypervisor.
Not first. For sure. But before you want to do anything serious.
Proxmox made learning home service hosting so much easier and faster to unfuck.
IMO running through a Gentoo installation is a great way to learn.
The handbook is well documented and walks you through all of the steps that an installer would traditionally do.
You can do it in a VM or bare metal if you're feeling adventurous!
Yeah, Gentoo is a good way to get your hands dirty. Reading the guide and trying to dig in deeper as to what you're doing will give you a decent understanding of Linux.
And for more in depth explanation of compilation, patches etc. consider LFS, or at least reading the 'book' on https://linuxfromscratch.org/
Gentoo install keeps coming up - what does it do ? What does it offer ?
Gentoo itself is "just" a very solid distro with lots of flexibility due to being source-based (most distros just deliver the resulting binaries), so if you're the kind of person that would customize the things Gentoo exposes, Gentoo makes it easier than it would be on Debian or Arch. If not, it's an added complexity for not much benefit.
The Gentoo installation guide famously doesn't shy away from explaining what needs to be done, it isn't just a series of step-by-step instructions. For this reason it's a great way to start learning this stuff. Even if it won't explain everything completely, it will surely point at the right direction.
The standout feature of Gentoo is its configurability; you can configure portage, the package manager, to enable and disable features of a package at build time.
Say you don't have Bluetooth. You can just exclude Bluetooth from every package by setting the use flag globally:
*/* -bluetooth
it can even manage dependencies, a good example is picking pipewire over pulse.
It's also easy to package software that isn't in the official repos - here's a post where I did just that.
The community is fantastic and supportive, and you can often get a near immediate response in IRC.
Finally the documentation is excellent, especually the handbook.
Thanks !
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What I did back in the day when I started Unix was mostly explore.
I looked at what was in /bin and read their manpages, or just browsed manpages to see what did what (your desktop manager will probably have a help browser nowadays that makes this much easier, in KDE it's the Help Center), and generally experimented with stuff.
Poking at things to see what they do is probably the best way, especially on a system that's not production. Also there will be a lot of reading involved, although it will mostly be to get a feel of things, as in the end, you'll essentially have to be proficient in finding information rather than memorising it for the most part.
And don't get too hung up on the whole distribution thing, in the end they all install the same stuff anyway.
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A good way is to build Linux from scratch. It gives you a totally new perspective of not just Linux but any operating system and is a lot of fun! https://www.linuxfromscratch.org/
Fun weekend project for the whole family !
Just type a bunch of stuff, then play with your kids as it compiles!
Let your kids compile the kernel! It's super easy and fun, rated for ages 2-99.
Heres a tl;dr of some "must learn" things in order to use GNU/Linux in an acceptable fashion;
-
Package manager (how to install, remove, clean old packages)
-
The "know-hows" (Which package goes for audio, video card, webcam, etc)
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How to make a minimal/baremetal installation (Which is a very simple process nowadays -- it takes only one package to do this)
Thats it.
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How linux works is a nice read, tells a bit about what's going on under the hood.
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Nothing will teach you the basics of Linux better than a good ol' Arch installation.
- Arch user sneering at Ubuntu user
- Gentoo user sneering at Arch user
- Linux from Scratch user sneering at Gentoo user
AmogOS user sneering at Linux from Scratch user
The MANnly way is to use the man pages for things your curious on. The arch wiki is another fantastic tool
Try setup arch or even gentoo with the help of the arch wiki or gentoo wiki
Delete a bunch of files from /bin then try to get back to a working system (hard mode)
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If you want to learn the terminal there's a game called Hack Net that teaches you command line. IMO if you pick a distro like Ubuntu, Pop, Zorin or Vanilla you don't need the terminal tho
if you really want to get into the details, there’s the Linux Upskill Challenge ( !linuxupskillchallenge@programming.dev and https://linuxupskillchallenge.org/ ) – runs through the nitty-gritty of running a Linux server – aimed at remoting in to a command line but it looks like the majority of the lessons would work just fine from a terminal or console on your own computer
I would start with YT channels like Learn Linux TV, Distro Tube, and Lawrence Systems, they have a bunch of great Linux content especially for beginners and intermediate learners.
Freecodecamp.org YT channel has a free 6 hour intro to Linux course that is very good. you might want to check that out as well.
For using a distro hands on while learning, any basic distro will do. You might want to check out Arco Linux first though. It's an Arch based distro that is specifically meant for Beginner and Intermediate Linux users to dig in and learn the nuts and bolts of the Linux Operating System. They have their own resources and the majority of things you learn for one distro will carry over to any other.
If you're looking for a formal certification, Comp TIA has a Linux+ certification and there is also a Linux cert called the LPIC-1, both of these are beginner level certs. If you study on your own the earlier resources I listed, you could probably pass those certs pretty easily, but they are only useful if you are trying to get a formal job as a Linux Sys admin, and even then, most jobs want higher level certs than those.
Still, if getting a formal piece of paper is motivating for you, they might be worth looking into.
The most important thing though is to just pick a distro, open up the terminal, open up a YT vid and start pecking away. If you have a spare old computer you don't need, wipe the drive and install a distro on it. That compy becomes your dedicated learning machine for the next year. Make sure it's one you can destroy because...trust me...you will destroy your installation at least a few times if you're really trying to learn.
If you have no spare computer, fire up a distro as a VM in something like Virtual Box. This can be useful because you can save old VM states to recover if you blow something up, although learning to recover from disaster without having to literally start from scratch is a valuable skill in and of itself.
Good luck and have fun! I got started with Linux about 4 years ago and it's been an amazing ride so far!
Think of a project you want to do, seek how to do it and do it, then break it and fix it.
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