Unix/Linux and Career Advice

[Citadel535]

What is the best way to learn how to use Unix and Linux?

I am in IT involved with Novell and NT systems but want to start working on Unix and Linux skills along with some Perl. Any advice on where to begin?

 

[DaHitman]

The obvious answer is to start using Linux. Run it at home, setup your own server for file sharing, print serving, email , web server, firewall etc...

Also, start to run it as desktop, if your not playing (windows only) games then run Linux.. its a great platform for surfing, email, mp3's, buring cd's etc.. and you will learn as you go along and try to do more and more with it.

 

[MGMorden]

Another piece of advice: if you really want to learn then don't grab Mandrake or Redhat. Get Slack, or Debian anything obscure and difficult. If you can get to where you can use the harder ones first thent the simpler distro's just fall right into place.

I'm currently posting this from Konqueor running on Sorcerer Linux. I just got through compiling Xfree86 (4.2.0 just came out ), Gnome, Mozilla, and KDE (plus lots of libraries and other things).

 

[NorthenLove]

Grab a book and read, read, read and do some more reading. As well as checking out your local community college for Unix and Perl classes. Also like everyone else said just grab a distro and play with it till you can do everything you know how to do under the systems you are already familur with but under *NIX instead.

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

<< Another piece of advice: if you really want to learn then don't grab Mandrake or Redhat. Get Slack, or Debian anything obscure and difficult. If you can get to where you can use the harder ones first thent the simpler distro's just fall right into place. >>


i agree with all the above advice but especially this one. i started off on redhat and used that for a few months just to get a taste for it, and then once i felt confident, i installed debian, it was quite a plunge and actually i had to reinstall it TWICE because, well, i'm retarded, but either way i think i'm doing alot better now than i would be if i just stuck to redhat or mandrake.

i even know how to use vi

 

[Hullboy]

I have been working my way through a book called "Unix: Shell Programming (revised edition)" It's about 450 pages long but there's a lot fitted on each page, so it's packed with information. I've found this book very useful both for Linux at home and Unix at work.

Written by S G Kochan and P H Wood

ISBN 0-672-48448-X

The exercises are good and certainly get you thinking.

Check it out.

 

[Woodie]

Install Perl for Windows (from ActiveState.

You could try installing CygWin (a Unix shell for Windows)...but a full OS install forces you to learn, where CygWin won't force you to learn shell in the same fashion, though it does add some key functionality to Windows (tail, grep!!)

--Woodie

 

[cleverhandle]

Definitely use Slackware or Debian. I prefer Slackware myself. You're doing this to learn, so take your time and learn it. No need to set a record for "empty disk to networked KDE time." Also, once you're comfortable with the basics, take advantage of the free-beer aspect and set up some stuff. Get some old hardware and set up a LAN. Set up a file or mail server. Hell, set up a mini-centralized network with the clients mounting their programs over NFS and authenticating remotely. You can wipe, reinstall, and reconfigure as much as you want without dealing with licensing crap, so use that freedom to your advantage.