linux

Does anyone know of a GOOD site to learn about Linux from a sub-novice level?:confused

 

GOOD is a relative term, Charles, so how about we just provide some links to informative sites and let you decide what works for you?

When I was a sub-novice beginner, I remember feeling overwhelmed with all the information and terminology. And there are literally HUNDREDS, if not thousands of Linux distros to choose from. I wanted to jump in and learn "hands-on" stuff, but I experienced paralysis through analysis. I eventually found ONE person in my extended circle of friends who had Linux experience, and things really started to click for me. I found a teacher/mentor who could show things and ask questions, as opposed to trying to learn what I didn't know, and then learn that.

If you can find ONE person in your circle, it will help tremendously! And the folks on THIS site are pretty amazing too. If I can share a few thoughts that I found to help me crystallize things, here they are:

1. I tend to classify ALL Linux distros as either "RPM", "Deb", or tarball (compiled from source) distros. These classifications refer to the package manager, and how you install new software on a machine. RPM refers to Red Hat Package Manager formats, and are found in Red Hat, Fedora, OpenSUSE, and their derivates. Deb refers to Debian formats and are found in Debian, Ubuntu, Mint, and their derivatives. Tarball distros, such as Slackware, Gentoo, and Arch are NOT for beginners.

2. Desktop Environments are confusing. Coming from Windows, you could have an XP, a Vista, or a 7 desktop (and now a Metro, also, yay?!), and they all look like variations of the same thing. Some of the more popular desktop environments in Linux include Unity (typically on Ubuntu only), Gnome, KDE, XFCE, LXDE and Enlightenment. Inasmuch as you can change your desktop environment on any distro, you're not locked into anything, like Windows. Besides looking different, each desktop comes with a different package of "core" applications. Other than personal preference and aesthetics, the biggest difference in desktop environments is probably resource requirements. Enlightment is reputed to run on systems with as little as 128MB RAM, but probably isn't a good choice for beginners. LXDE runs on as little as 256MB RAM, while XFCE suggests 512MB for maximum productivity. Gnome, KDE, and Unity (which is a heavily customized Gnome desktop) are the "heavyweights", but also the most popular. 1GB is recommended for each of these desktops. Don't get too bogged down in a choice of desktop environement, as I did. As long as your system can provide 1GB RAM, it really isn't a big deal, as you can change your DE without changing your distro. If your system doesn't have 1GB, choose a distro that DEFAULTS to installation of a DE your system will support. For example, you only have 512MB...then Xubuntu (XFCE Ubuntu) is a good choice; if you only have 256MB...then Lubuntu (LXDE Ubuntu) is a good choice to start with.

3. Learn how to make LiveCD and/or LiveUSB sticks to "try before you buy". If a Live medium runs on your machine, and you like it, THEN install it.

Lastly, with all that background out of the way, there are "newbie" threads here on MajorGeeks. Search for them. There are some useful tutorials for beginners at Linux.org:

http://www.linux.org/

And finally, when you start to zero in on a distro that YOU prefer, you can probably find a PDF manual online. For example, I currently prefer Ubuntu 12.04 LTS version. A google search for Ubuntu 12.04 PDF Manual provides the following article, which also links the download site.

http://www.webupd8.org/2012/07/download-getting-started-with-ubuntu-pdf.html

And in case you haven't figured it out yet, I'm the resident Ubuntu pusher on this forum. Seems like everyone here has their own favorites, but Ubuntu is my preference. It works for ME, and I can only speak from experience by referencing Ubuntu. If it works for YOU, cool; if it does not, there are HUNDREDS of other choices. I'm CERTAIN there's something out there that is perfect for YOU!

That should be more than enough to get you started! Good luck, sub-novice!