Using GNU/Linux

I'm still relatively new to the world of GNU/Linux. While I had tinkered with a few bash components previously, I didn't start officially using GNU/Linux until last December (2006), when my previous OS crashed on me for the last time. While I had some trouble adapting at first, I am now finding that I can do much more with a Linux-based OS than I would have even considered trying with my previous OS. One of the first things I learned was to make use of the abundant support and input available from the online Linux community. Because most Linux distributions are Free Software, available documentation is usually readily available, abundant and accurate. I have listed here some of the resources that I have found particularly helpful in my efforts to learn how to interact with Linux.

General GNU/Linux

The Web hosts an abundance of sites that over information about various dimensions of Linux, as well as general introductions to what Linux is, how it works, and why it works that way. For those of you who are considering switching to Linux from Windows, I strongly recommend this article: Linux is NOT Windows.

• 68 Linux eBooks -- Why 68? Who knows?
• The Free Software Foundation -- The group that supports the GNU Project and advocates free software
• HowTo Forge -- User-friendly Linux tutorials
• Linux.com -- An online Linux journal
• Linux Dictionary -- Find out the meanings of words like 'manpage', 'POSIX' and 'stack'
• The Linux Foundation
• Linux Man Pages -- Online versions of many manpages
• Linux Online
• Linux Tutorial -- Good for beginners
• LinuxQuestions.org -- An active Linux forum

Applications and Extensions

• Free Software Directory -- Directory of GNU projects
• Freshmeat -- Large (they claim to be the largest) directory of Unix and Linux software
• Linux App Finder -- What Linux application can I use to do ________?
• SourceForge -- Enormous Open Source development site

Standards and Interoperability

• freedesktop.org -- Interoperability between X Window System desktops (e.g. GNOME and KDE)
• The Internet Engineering Taskforce -- Focused more on Internet standards than on Linux
• Linux Standard Base
• X.Org Foundation--The Open Source implementation of the X Window System

Cookbooks and Recipes

I'm a big fan of programming cookbooks, as I believe that they offer both a quick way to get the system to do what you want and a chance to learn more about how it works at your leisure. As someone who programs for the sake of the application instead of the program itself, I sometimes find it easier to begin with a working piece of code that I can then reverse engineer. The down-side to this approach is that it can lead to inefficient and inelegant code if you don't stay in the habit of cleaning it up once you understand it.

• The Linux Cookbook: Tips and Techniques for Everyday Use
• bash Cookbook (Supplemental site to the O'Reilly Book by the same name)
• sed One-Liners
• Vim Cookbook

Ubuntu Linux

Ubuntu is presently my preferred flavor of Linux. I'm still pretty new to the Linux universe, and I've found that Ubuntu is willing to forgive my ignorance for now, but is also ready to take me further when I'm ready to learn how a given part of the system works. It strikes a nice balance between ease-of-use and 'tweakability', and the online support and available documentation is outstanding.

• Ubuntu Linux
• Ubuntu Forums
• Ubuntu Guide
• Ubuntu Tutorials
• Ubuntu Wiki

Other Linux Flavors

I recently read that there are now over 300 different distros using the Linux kernel out there. The distributions listed here are but a small fraction of that lot. The Wikipedia hosts a nice comparison of Linux distributions, and DistroWatch tracks the popularity and rankings of different distros. While I've played around a tiny bit with Debian, Mandriva and DSL a bit on my own, the only distribution I've worked extensively with has been Ubuntu. As such, I really can't offer any insight into which distro may best suit your needs. Try the two links I just mentioned for that.

• Cygwin^* (for Windows users, not actually a Linux distro)
• Debian
• DSL(LiveCD, Debian base)
• Fedora (Red Hat base)
• Gentoo
• Knoppix (LiveCD, Debian base)
• Mandriva (Red Hat base)
• openSUSE (SUSE base)
• Slackware (SLS base)
• Ubuntu (Debian base)

Recommended Texts

I have found the following texts1 helpful guides to understanding various aspects of a Linux-based operating system. For the most part, I have worked with Ubuntu, but most of these texts are generalized to many Linux distros. As some have pointed out to me, the information found in some of these books is readily available online or on your system (via 'man' or 'info'). While I am aware of this, and I consult the online resources regularly, the books often provide valuable background information and examples that don't appear in the online documentation.

This was the first book I purchased when I started learning how to use Linux. It offers a very basic introduction to some of the common aspects of Unix and Unix-like operating systems.	This is a much more thorough book on running a Linux system. It specifically covers RedHat, Suse and Debian distros, but the majority of the information can be applied to anyone using the Linux kernel. It covers the installation, configuration and maintenance of a Linux OS, and includes notes for people making the switch from Windows®.	True to the form of O'Reilly's 'In a Nutshell' series, this book covers most of the shell utilities that come standard with a Linux distro, as well as advice on making your way around a Linux system.

This book walks you through setting up a Linux server and equipping it with different features. It also covers configuring and maintaining your server for optimal performance.	This is a great resource on writing effective and reliable scripts for bash (Bourne Again SHell). It covers the scripting process from the ground-up, so it's great for beginners, too.	This has probably been one of my favorite references on bash scripting. The recipes are easy to find, and the explanations make modifying them for your own needs extremely straightforward. This book just might be the best of O'Reilly's cookbooks (that's just my little opinion, of course).

Pocket Guides

I carry these little guys around in my backpack so that they're readily available when I need them.

Although it's a bit large for my pockets, this little book was one of my constant companions when I was first getting started. I still pull it out regularly to double check my syntax on some of the shell loops and conditionals. It's examples are from Fedora Linux.	Only slightly thinner than its counterpart, the Linux Desktop Pocket Guide covers the installation and configuration of GNOME and KDE, and specifically discusses how they work with Fedora, Gentoo, Mandriva, SUSE and Ubuntu.	iptables is the command used to adminster firewalls, NAT and network logging and accounting in Linux. This little guide is great for helping to make sure the system is being run securely.

This is a useful quick reference for some of the more advanced administrative tasks. It includes specifics for AIX, FreeBSD, HP-UX, Linux and Solaris.	Apache is the standard web server on just about any Linux system. This guide covers many of the configuration options and modules available to the Apache system.	sed and awk are two very powerful string processing tools that come with most GNU/Linux distributions. This little reference covers most of the RegEx tools in both, and compares the capabilities of different versions.

1. 1. Incidentally, if you're using Mozilla Firefox (which I strongly recommend) with the Adblock Plus plugin, you won't see the actual books because the scripts link to Amazon.com. If you want to see them, simply add this site to your whitelist.

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