A Brand Newbie - that needs lots'o'help

[snoopy]

I'm a little nervous about doing this - I've heard that Linux users are not newbie friendly - but here it goes. A friend of mine has a linux box that he has allowed me accesss to for learning purposes. I love to learn - but can't figure out where to get started. Any ideas?

(Please keep in mind - I have NO Linux/Unix experience. If anyone knows where there are tutorials online - or even the best HELP books - I would be very appreciative!)

Potential Apology: If I have posted this on the "Wrong" BB - please point me in the right direction!

THANK YOU!

[EscapeCharacter]

you can start here http://www.cs.rutgers.edu/LCSR-Computing/commands.html also if you look around this site youll find lots of help, also that thing about the linux community being mean is far from the true.
good luck man

------------------
I like source it never *****es about dependencies
--Escchr 2000

[aragorn77]

Hi snoopy,
I'm a total newbie as you; I just installed linux mandrake 7.2 on a partition of HD near Windows and I'm still learning how the hell can I install software on linux, or change some very basic settings. !!!
It's surely harder than in Windows even with the RPM packages - at least for the moment-.
To your question:

i'm considering buying a book on Linux. Paper support is much useful and easiear at this stafe.
This is what I'll probably choose:

"A Practical Guide to Linux
Author(s): Mark G. Sobell
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Pub Co
Date Published: June 1997
Format: Paperback
B&N Price: 33.75

Description: This new book by best-selling UNIX author Mark Sobell combines the strengths of a tutorial and those of a reference to give you the knowledge and skills to master Linux. Uniquely designed for both beginners and experienced users, A Practical Guide to Linux requires no prior programming experience. It begins with an extensive tutorial to bring those with less experience up to speed, and then quickly progresses to detailed chapters on GUIs, networking, the vi and emacs editors, three popular shells, programming tools, and system administration. Part II is a comprehensive reference containing descriptions and examples of 87 utilities. This book includes several complete example sessions on downloading and installing Linux-based utilities and other software from the Internet."

Maybe a little old (97); anyone knows of new editions or content-similar more recent books?

But you can also begin looking in the directory
/usr/share/doc for many interesting HOWTOs and FAQs (if they are installed).

Other choice:
*http://ldp.csn.ul.ie/* Linux Documentation project.
and off course:
look in NHF's for many easy tuts if you haven't done it yet.

By the way a general book on Linux at your side when in front of the box is probably the best choice. Go visit your library and search a book which you think is good for your needs. The title i suggested is in fact good for me but I can't be sure it will also be good for you.
Good luck
Aragorn77

[LiNuts]

Hi Snoopy, give us a run down on what Distribution your using, and what questions you want to ask.

Once you get into it, Linux is great.
cheers http://www.linuxnewbie.org/ubb/smile.gif
LiNuts

[MovingTarget]

its always the first steps that drive away most newbies
stick with it and u wont regret http://www.linuxnewbie.org/ubb/smile.gif

Total newbie here
Distro: Slackware 7.1
(it was cake installing)

[jenbass]

I'm brand new to this as well, from a month or so ago, and recommend O'Reilly's Running Linux...it is a completely ace book. And a lot of patience trawling around on the net doing searches on stuff.