Learning Linux

Arch claims to be a distro that doesn't do too much for the user and therefore makes you really learn linux (contrary to the Ubuntu way, for example).
But how do you explain the following? According to the "Configuring Network" text on ArchWiki, all you have to do to configure your network is put some values in a few configuration files, type /etc/rc.d/network start and that's it. Where's ifconfig, route, ...? Are these put together in /etc/rc.d/network?
(I'm not using Archlinux yet, otherwise I could just go and have a look)

The Arch way is similar to the Slackware way. Services in Slackware are set up in the /etc/rc.d directory, and the recommended method of enabling them is to simply chmod the scripts, whereas Arch calls them from the DAMEONS line in /etc/rc.conf. This might seem strange, but it is actually inspired by the BSD way. It is a 'simple' way, which is consistent with the Arch principle. (See the Arch Way in the wiki )
Many Linux distros use a more complex system, but the 'BSD/Arch/Slack' way uses one simple file for each runlevel, not an entire directory.

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Suggest me best way to learn Linux .

Hi,
I have interest to learn Linux but right now i don't have basic knowledge on Linux. Plz suggest me best material/book or any other way to learn Linux. If any one having materials plz send it to my mail id <email address removed by moderator>
Thanks & Regards
Ramesh.
Moderator action:
These are public discussion forums. Requests for off-forum communications defeat that entire premise. Additionally, when you publish your contact information you are requesting to be spammed by bad people... FOREVER.
Edited by: rukbat on Jun 24, 2011 6:21 AM

Your first task will probably be to decide on a Linux distribution and and also determine if you have enough hardware resources. Then install the OS and see further. There are many tutorials and Linux lessons available for free on the Internet.
If you are familiar with windows and need it for your day to day work, save yourself from very frustrating experiences and do not erase your hard drive or bother with dual boot, like it was done 10 years ago. Look into setting up Virtualbox first http://www.virtualbox.org. It will allow you to run any distribution of Linux without jeopardizing your primary operating system. It will give you all the flexibility you will need to install or reinstall and learn Linux whenever you have time.

Books or document for learning linux (oracle)

Hi,
Before I drill into Oracle DBA on Oracle Linux, I want to build some basic linux knowledge first. Which book is the best for me to start with my goal? tutorial like?
Thanks
Fei Li

You don't say what your background is, so I'm guessing you are Microsoft Windows literate. You can use the GUI to do some administration acts such as re-arranging folders and searching for files. With the Linux desktop, you will probably feel quite at home after a very short while.
There is a totally ginormous amount of Linux on the Internet, but be careful: a lot of it is stale. (Read that as was-once-right-but-now-is-wrong.) This is a pretty good place to start browsing:
http://www.linux.com/learn/new-user-guides
Go down to the bookstore and get "Linux for Dummies".
Now, that being said, there is quite a different skill set needed to know about Linux "under the hood", but I don't think you are concerned about that for now. So download a live-cd version of Fedora (http://fedoraproject.org), put it in the CDROM, and reboot. You are now running Linux without doing anything to your hard drive. Browse around the desktop, check out the various programs. Most Windows applications have Linux counterparts under different names; navigate the menus based on what you want to do, not looking for a particular application program name.
You'll run across frequent references to other distributions (Ubuntu, for one) but I recommend Fedora because it's the most similar to Oracle Linux (OL). Oracle Linux is a server distribution, not a desktop distribution. That means OL probably won't recognize some of your laptop hardware, or do gazillions of triangles per second on the video screen. Avoid frustration by using a distribution oriented to a desktop/laptop paradigm.
Once you get comfortable with Linux on a live-cd, you'll want to install it to your hard drive. This can be a challenge because Windows usually squats on the whole disk drive leaving no room for Linux. The only tricky part of a Linux installation is to convince Windows to move over and make room. Fortunately, you don't need to do this.
Having more than one operating system on a disk is called "dual-boot". Dual-boot is so-o-o last millennium :) What I recommend is to download VirtualBox (http://www.VirtualBox.org) onto your Windows or Fedora box and create an Oracle Linux virtual guest. There are even some pre-configured OL setups available via that web site or the http://eDelivery.oracle.com distribution site.

I want to learn linux

Hi all,
I am a beginner in Linux ….. I want to learn it …. All user commands to advance level … any one can help me to get some PDF documentation which will get all the user level command and other details to start by a beginner to practice and become master in it
Hopefully
shanoj

and, just in case you choose Ubuntu Linux, there is plenty of info hosted at the wikis and step-by-step info on https://help.ubuntu.com/
Command line interface is very useful and powerful friend but GUI is not bad ally either, it is just a matter how you feel more comfortable.
Once you start playing around with Linux you will soon realize there many ways to do one particular thing, there are lots of ways to customize your environment/box to every particular need. Ah, and one of the many good things about Linux is that you are not forced to restart your box after updating/upgrading apps. or even the system.
Good luck in your adventure and let us know how it goes.

Learning Linux kernel

Hi,
I am a user of Linux and BSD UNIX system. I know C and the basics of Assembly. I'm trying to learn and program the kernel layer. Can you suggest me books, documentation or examples to do that?
Thanks and sorry for my poor English,
--mghis
PS: I think "programming forum" is more appropriate than "kernel and hardware issues" forum. If I didn't choose correctly, I hope mods will move my thread without closing it.

Thanks! Checking the links and the suggestion...
austin.rbn wrote:Also worth mentioning as a classic in kernel and OS development, although it's very outdated (written for UNIX SysV), is "The Design of the UNIX Operating System" by Maurice J. Bach.
Ten years ago I used SysV and ULTRIX. I have found part of the sources of the latter, but none of the first... If you have it, it would very interesting to see them...
Thanks a lot for the books and the links!
--mghis

Want to learn GNU/Linux for real. Thinking of trying Arch.

So, I'm thinking about trying to put Arch Linux on a partition to force myself into a more "intimate" relationship with Linux, while still using Ubuntu as my primary operating system.
So far, I've been using Ubuntu for two years and kinda treading water in terms of actually understanding the system. I understand what my system is doing only slightly better than they average 'tech-savy windows user' might, which is to say that I am quite good manipulating the GUI, have customised a couple of configuration files (though nothing really essential to the system), and can get some basic tasks done from the command line. I've managed to figure out how to do custom booting and partitioning for multiple operating systems as well, but relying heavily on GUI tools. I have no idea how to, say, do a full hardware configuration, or even get the gnome GUI up and running from a console. I have used a couple of command line tools to listen to music, watch movies, and browse the web, but not much more. Last but not least, I'm terrified of vim and emacs. I can usually bend nano to my will if I must, but if edit any system files, it will normally be in gedit.
I want to fix all of that, and I think Arch might force me to learn it all properly.
Is it biting off more than I can chew? Is there a better way to learn Linux, or perhaps a distro that would be more conducive to my goal?
I'm no pro, I just want to learn.
Last edited by ninjaaron (2010-12-10 17:40:10)

ninjaaron wrote:
Well, linux ninjitsu would be idea.
What would you say if I did what you said here, but just skipped out on the slackware and the gentoo?
I've had this secret crazy dream of doing LFS for a while... I even have the book on my hard-drive, but I knew I could never pull it off at my current level of knowledge.
Hence: Arch
Well that is only my personal guide. I've actually seen people on this forum claim to go from Windows (and no real previous Linux experience) to Arch successfully. I think it really depends on how technical you are and how hard you're willing to try.
I put slackware in there because it's package managers usually don't track dependencies like Debian/Ubuntu does. The default Slackware install is pretty easy then but adding stuff will help you learn about dependencies more and how they work. And it'll help you get off any reliance you have on .deb packages coming from Ubuntu. It also gives you some experience with one of the earliest Linux Distributions.
As for Gentoo, I put that after Arch to act as kind of a transition into LFS (source based entirely). It shows you the difference between binary and source based distros -- although Arch or even Ubuntu can be entirely built from source too, in theory. The idea is by the end of it you would have a good idea of what you like best having had time to try most of the major distros and of various types.
You can do anything you like.
Last edited by davidm (2010-12-10 20:05:09)

Linux Installation- I can't find the required install script

I'm trying to follow the LabVIEW installation guide for Linux, but I am having trouble. This post will be kind of long, as I will try to tell you everything I have done so far. I'm also kind of new to Linux, so I'm sure there are many things I don't know.
I'm trying to use http://www.ni.com/pdf/manuals/374718a.html#installing
and http://www.ni.com/pdf/manuals/375845d.pdf
Step one from the guide is to insert the "installation media" and run
#sh ./INSTALL
and that's easy enough. Or at least it would be if I had any idea where this sh file is. I requested a copy of the install disks from my university (I'm installing on one of their computers), and they said that while they don't have any Linux install disks, they were pretty sure "it is on there somewhere," whatever that means. That seems to be about the extent of their knowledge regarding linux.
On this disk is a folder named slcp10 with contents slcp10.cab, slcp10.mis, and slcp200_mft.cab, all of which are windows files and as far as I can tell impossible to run on linux unless I'm using WINE, which is clearly not the way to go.
I also have a few ISOs from the site licensing department, but likewise no one seems to know anything about installing on linux. After mounting these ISOs I see that they contain the folders Bin, Common, Distributions, Licenses, and Readme (which is full of all kinds of irrelevant stuff). They also contain the files academicsitelicense.html, asladminresource.html, autorun.exe, autorun.inf, nisuite.xml, patents.txt, readme_core.html, setup.ede, and suite_md5_1.xml, none of which seem promising. Again, I only know how to install .exe files using WINE.
I've since turned to the internet to try and download it from NI directly, and have gone to http://www.ni.com/download-labview/ and selected "Already own LabVIEW? Download the latest version." From there I select the dropdown for alternative OS, and select the MAC OSX option as I read somewhere on the NI help pages that this would work on a linux machine (which makes sense to me, as MAC is UNIX-based, right?). Well, that gives me a dmg file (apparently some sort of mac file?) which I found a way to use on linux by extracting it in 7zip and then mounting the hfs file. This still seems to be some sort of evaluation program, as it contains LabVIEW2014Evaluation.pkg, readme.html (which takes me to the OSX install readme-useless), installation_guide.pdf (again, solely for MAC and useless to me), drivers.webloc, and the folders Extras and Licenses.
I'm at wit's end, man. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills. I've never had so much trouble installing a program before in my life, because technically I haven't even started the installation process yet, and I'm already about to defenestrate my computer. Please help me. I don't know what else to do, and I'm sure there is a very simple solution that I'm too ignorant to see.
At our other lab we run windows, and installing is cake. After learning Linux over the past few months, I never thought I'd say this, but I actually wish I had a windows machine right now.
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Well, I managed to get it installed, but only because I found another ISO from the site licensing department that had linux install files. Oddly enough, this single ISO is a scant 3 Gb while there are three other ISOs that each come in at 7.5 Gb. Are there really that many missing packages in Linux?
Sorry if anyone reading this has similar issues, but the best I can do is say find the Linux install disk.

Installing linux and unix on my macbook pro without using vmware

I was browsing through the forum and bumped into a topic where the best advice for installing linux application is the following:
http://macdevcenter.com/lpt/a/7073
However, I have not tested this out therefore I am pretty reluctant to put this on my laptop which is currently running MAC OS X 10.5.8. (4gb ram). If anyone have done this please let me know.
1) My question: Is this a reliable method to run linux applications on MAC OS natively using the x11 from Apple?
Note: I have vmware and I personally don't prefer booting a separate OS on my computer just to use one or two apps. However if that is the only solution I already have ubuntu running on my vmware. Also I wanted to completely wipe off my vmware and the ISO images (ubuntu and win xp) to free up the space in my hard drive. If I have to use ubuntu which may be a "safer solution" than run linux applications on my hard drive then I will stick to the vmware method.
If someone could give me some insight in this topic then I would greatly appreciated their help.
p.s. I want to install xilinx web-pack and other useful softwares that are only available in linux, ubuntu and win xp/vista/w7. My goal is to completely transform my laptop from dual booting ubuntu and win xp to just run mac snow leopard (in the near future).
Thanks in advance,
Pirakalan S.
Message was edited by: Pirakalan S.

Basically I want to run linux and unix applications without running vmware on my mac os x. I heard there is a way to use x11 and FinkCommander (http://finkcommander.sourceforge.net/) application. However, I am unable to figure out how to install programs such as xilinx ise (http://www.xilinx.com/ise/logicdesignprod/foundation.htm) on my MacBook Pro using FinkCommander. In addition, xilinx ise runs on linux and windows however not mac.
In simple words I want to solely use Leapord (not snow leapord) to run applications such xilinx ise (which is only available on windows platform or linux).
I recently shifted from windows xp platform to mac and I rarely use vmware after making the shift. Therefore, I am trying to find a solution where I don't require vmware at all, my plan is to remove vmware from my hard drive.
I just restated what I stated in the previous post in a simpler manner, sorry for any miscommunication on the earlier post. I am looking for a step by guide to install linux applications on my mac. I am at a process of learn linux at the moment so I am kind of slow when it comes to linux and mac. Especially when it comes to installing using command line not GUI.
I just want to know if there is a solution out there for running linux based applications to run on my mac.

A simple file server with Arch Linux?

Hello everyone.
I had a lucky day to day and was given an old Pentium III based server with 512MB of RAM. I want to set up a server for my house that can basically act as NAS (network attached storage) and stream files to other members of the family's machines. I also want to install rTorrent and be able to download multimedia on to the server. I also wish to be able to access the server from a Windows machine as I would prefer if the server could be headless (no monitor or keyboard/mouse) after the initial installation of ArchLinux.
Could someone explain how I might go about performing these tasks? I have never used Linux before (other than Ubuntu for web browsing). I am of course comfortable with installing the OS but not sure about how I would set it up like I want.
Thanks for reading and I look forward to reading your response.

You can use samba to share the files between the computers (this will work with Windows as well as Linux and Mac OS X).
As for rTorrent, you can install rTorrent and run it via ssh. However I would recommend deluge. There is a server daemon which you would run on the server. And then a client which you can run on a linux machine (there might even a be a windows version).
To use a headless server you need (well you don't need, but it is very helpful) to setup ssh. I am not sure what you mean by stream files to other members of the family's machines (share files)?
Also if you are not all that familiar with linux, be prepared to do some serious reading or maybe look at using something like ubuntu (but you will still have to read). Using arch would be a great way to learn linux more than what you have with ubuntu.

Which Linux is the best for me?

I got the Oracle DBA(OCP) certificate last year and I am learning Linux now.
I don't know which distribution is the most suitable one for me to learn? Fedora8.0, CentOS, RHEL5.0, Suse or other versions?

Again, you need to make a choice.
- Is this for learning Linux in general?
- Is this for getting familiar with a Linux desktop?
- Is this for learning how Oracle interacts with a distribution?
If for Linux in general, look around for a Linux User Group so you can get local help. Probably Fedora, SuSE or Ubuntu.
If for Linux as a desktop, do some research on KDE, gnome and Linux desktops. Pick a distribution that does a good job of the one that appeals to you. I'd guess Ubuntu.
If for Oracle-Linux learning, the I encourage getting a certified Linux or clone. Go to http://www.oracle.com/technology/support/metalink/index.html , select 'by platform', select Linux x86 (and see http://ww.dizwell.com for Linux 64-bit comments), and pick one of the certified distros. (Note that CentOS is a Clone of Red Hat, so it counts as Red Hat.)
You can pick a non-certified Linux if you want to learn Linux & Oracle. But them any time you get into a problem, you will have doubts whether it is the Linux or the steps you use.

Bash and Linux infrastructure references

Hi,
after 3 years using Linux I would like to improve my knowledge of bash to start writing some useful scripts which can make my life easier. Do you know any good manual (better if available online) which I can use to start learning it?
I'm not particularly "bash savvy", I've simply used it quite often on my Arch Linux experience, but I would describe myself as a beginner.
Moreover, if you have any other reference about Linux architecture will be appreciated. I've always struggle to understand some manual intervention Arch Linux require from time to time. Simply copy commands developers suggest us is quite annoying. After all this time I think is the right moment to become an intermediate Linux user.
Cheers,
Gianluca

Linux From Scratch is a good way to learn Linux and all the things necessary to make a distribution.
Other good learning references I know of require some knowledge of C and might be overkill for you:
-The Linux Programming Interface : Although really aiming at developpers each chapter contain very valuable information about Linux architecture, ... It's a book you need to buy and it's relatively expensive.
-Computer Science from the Bottom Up : Free online course which goes really close to the metal.

875p Neo and linux

I have been wanting to learn linux for some time now so i installed Mandrake9.1/XP dual boot on my system. But I, in all my noob goodness can seem to get it going. Basically im having problems with all the onboard stuff like sound and the network card. Any one tried this? Can someone point me to these drivers or tell me what im doing wrong?

Quote
Originally posted by maesus
BarkingDog, yeah you're right!! My bad! Will check with MSI see how far they go with Linux supports...
Maesus--
I was somewhat suprised when I found them myself!
Anyhow -- after you gain some more insight into the extent to which MSI supports Linux, post it here -- I'm interested too...
Quote
Originally posted by Ryon
I got at least some of the hardware working, im posting this reply from linux now. I still am working on sound and some other on board hardware but for right now, i works quite well and i can access the internet. I guess its a good start
Ryon --
That's great to hear -- and it may push up my plans to give it a shot again. (There's nothing like running Linux on some newly purchased hardware, sporting a freshly manufactured CPU & tons of RAM!)
I'm curious -- how did you finally get the ethernet interface up? And did you have the "CSA" option enabled in the BIOS for the LAN device?
Regards,
-BarkingDog

Arch Linux deemed "best" distro of 2014 by Linux Voice

Congrats everyone! http://www.linuxvoice.com/linux-distros/.
We were looking for a distro that performs well in every area, and excellently in many, making it a good all-round distro. However this alone isn’t enough. It needs to have something that pushes it ahead of the competition – and the competition is getting better every year. It needs that certain X factor to make it stand out. It should be a distro people want to install; a distro that people get passionate about; a distro that makes you remember why you love Linux.
Arch Linux does all this and more. The two things that make it stand out aren’t fancy bits of software, or slick user interfaces, but its philosophy and its community.
Last edited by link (2014-10-09 05:31:52)

From the same DistroWatch page karol quoted from:
Before one can answer what is the best distro, they have to answer for what purpose! While Arch is a great linux distribution, it isn't the one I would want to install and support on a 100 workstations in a business or classroom environment, or even my mother's computer. I probably wouldn't use it for a mission critical server role and it's also not one I would use for embed systems work.
There's a saying that learn Ubuntu and you learn Ubuntu, learn Arch and you learn Linux. Well, most users don't want or need to learn Linux (or Ubuntu).
"Best Distro" declarations are worthless. Instead they need to be "Best Distro For..." declarations. Arch is an excellent distribution, but as most people will tell you, it's not for the feint of heart. For general use, particularly in a business setting, openSuse would seem to be a better choice. For general use as a home desktop, one might look at one of the *buntus. For development work, particularly in the US, fedora, RHEL or CENTOS seems a good choice.
The reality is that from the user perspective, one can make any distro look and act like any other. The question as to what is best really comes down to how much work is involved to make it actually do that.
Again, Arch is an excellent distro. But depending on your use case, it might not be the best distro.
Fair points all (except for the "development work" bit), but since the whole article was a comparison of rolling-release operating systems, why single out Arch? Why bother even commenting? Using a rolling-release OS when you want a static setup is foolish, no matter what the distribution is.

~~[DONE]~~ Installing Oracle 10g Rel. 2 on linux distros...

Hello guys,
I wanted to ask if anyone of you tried to install oracle 10g release 2 for personal use on any linux distro (free distros).
If yes which linux did you try?
Message was edited by:
sysdba

Choose the Linux distribution that makes you feel most comfortable. At the Linux level, there is very little difference between fedora core 4 and SUSE linux 9.2 (if there is, they are not allowed to use the label Linux). At the 'other stuff thrown in' level, which makes it a distro, you need to decide which is going to make you happiest.
In any case, installing Oracle in Linux means you need to have the prerequisites set up. That means a specific version of the kernel, a specific set of libraries and a specific set of installed applications. If you have those, you follow a specific set of steps to install.
Werner Puschitz helps you figure out the specific prerequisites at ttp://www.puschitz.com ... if you can not understand the prereqs and steps, then you might want to spend more time learning Linux basic admin until you are more comfortable otherwise you will get into some trouble down the road.
Message was edited by:
forbrich
Message was edited by:
forbrich

Printing/scanning on Linux

I've played with Linux on and off for a while now (at one point even used it for a month exclusively) and am considering switching back fulltime for several reasons. I do have several concerns though (no microsoft office.. aaaaah) - my biggest one being printing and scanning. It just seems like a total driver nightmare on Linux. Is it really as bad as it seems or will it just take a bit of config? Any other things I should worry myself with before switching? I think most of my concerns are just being a little too used to Windows.. Haven't used Linux in a few months

luxade wrote:I do have several concerns though (no microsoft office.. aaaaah) - my biggest one being printing and scanning. It just seems like a total driver nightmare on Linux. Is it really as bad as it seems or will it just take a bit of config?
"Seems like" based on what source?
luxade wrote:I think most of my concerns are just being a little too used to Windows.. Haven't used Linux in a few months
You will learn Linux the fastest and most deeply after you've committed yourself to using it as your main OS for more than a few weeks. I trust you've also encountered this idea that Arch Linux, in particular, is targeted more at people with a hacker mentality than some other distributions. If you're still pining for everything autoconfigured and guified like you're used to in Windows, I think you're facing a bit of an uphill battle, here.
Now for something more specifically focused on your question - how to make sure your printer/scanner works in Linux:
If you already have a printer/scanner, just google for how to get it working in Linux.
If you don't already have a printer/scanner, google for printers/scanners that work in Linux, before buying. That's how I found my HP PhotoSmart.
Last edited by /dev/zero (2011-12-18 19:43:06)

Learning Linux

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