cross-posted from: https://programming.dev/post/18636248

I’ve always approached learning Linux by just diving into it and bashing my head against problems as they come until I either solve them or give up, the latter being the more common outcome.

I wouldn’t take this approach with other pieces of software though - I’d read guides, best practices, have someone recommend me good utility tools or extensions to install, which shortcuts to use or what kind of file hierarchy to use, etc.
For example, for python I’d always recommend the “Automate the boring stuff with Python”, I remember learning most Java with that “Head first Java” book back in the days, c# has really good official guides for all concepts, libraries, patterns, etc.

So… lemme try that with Linux then! Are there any good resources, youtube videos, bloggers or any content creators, books that go explain everything important about linux to get it running in an optimal and efficient way that are fun and interesting to read? From things like how the file hierarchy works, what is /etc, how to install new programs with proper permissions, when to use sudo, what is a flatpak and why use it over something else, how to backup your system so you can easily reconstruct your setup in case you need to do an OS refresh, etc? All those things that people take for granted but are actually a huge obstacle course + minefield for beginners?

And more importantly, that it’s up to date with actually good advice?

  • andioop@programming.devEnglish
    1·
    11 days ago

    Alright, I went and installed Linux! I honestly have not looked at most of those resources since I made the post but I plan to as needed—the thing that I took was a user’s advice on which distribution (Nobara) for my specific use case. In case we have the same use case: I was replacing a Windows computer that I only used for video games (none of which are online multiplayer games or have anticheat, sometimes those might be incompatible with a Linux install?) and BOINC/Folding at Home. If I hate it or have too much trouble I’ll try another distribution.

    One thing I can tell you is a couple things I learned during the installation process. Only later did I find https://www.howtogeek.com/693588/how-to-install-linux/ which would have helped me hit less bumps in the road. (Mainly because I was looking at https://wiki.nobaraproject.org/ and saw the two steps about downloading ISO and creating a usable USB device. I already had the ISO, so I moved onto creating a bootable USB device on my own and failed at that. Ended up finding the howtogeek guide which helped me with the USB device later.)

    • I am an idiot who thought doing https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server-essentials/install/create-a-bootable-usb-flash-drive dumping the ISO on a flashdrive was enough before reading that howtogeek guide. It is not. I learned the hard way I had to use https://rufus.ie/en/ on the ISO (if you’re smarter than me you can figure out what that actually does to make it bootable lol). That linked tutorial does work though.
    • Because I was migrating from a Windows 11 machine, I needed the flashdrive in fat32 so UEFI could read it, not NFTS.
    • Finally, I got “the volume is too big for fat32” or something like that when trying to format to fat32. I tried to look up if I could just make a smaller partition on my flashdrive that was fat32, no answer found. So I just did it. Yes, you can indeed just make a smaller fat32 partition that is big enough to hold your Linux install.