Books to learn Linux/Unix

[Ed]

On Thu, Oct 28, 2010 at 5:27 AM, JD Austin <jd at twingeckos.com> wrote:
> Back in the 90's I was in your same position.  What I did was to
> load Linux on my main computer and use it exclusively.  Depending on what
> you want to learn will determine which distribution you would load.
> For example - if you're looking to get up to speed on what is used in
> business Load your machine with Centos (Free Redhat Enterprise Linux Clone),
> Suse, or Fedora (Fedora is close enough to Centos to be meaningful and works
> on more hardware).

Welcome -
you might want to get some experience before playing with Fedora,
bleeding edge is not the best place to learn, but then Fedora won't
put you sideways right off the line. So maybe it's ok. Slackware is a
good place to start, simple stable and safe makes for a good learning
environment (esp. for command line stuff). It has good man pages too,
which you will be working with as you learn. You should expect to play
with at least 5 different GNU/Linux distributions in the coming year -
and learn why some say GNU/Linux and others just Linux, and some say
Yum and some say Apt and some say configure/make/make install.

what is your computer background? comfortable with the command line?
remember DOS? Ever take a class in Anthropology...
drop by gnu.org and freedesktop.org
go see xkcd

> Debian is the totally open Linux and well worth a try.
> For more casual use you might try Ubuntu.
> Gentoo is another you might try.
> Linux is WAY more put together than it was in the 90s so you'll be amazed
> how often it just works without having to search for things like drivers, it
> has a ton software included you'd normally have to pay for that you can
> install for free, and runs better on the same hardware.  For a less drastic
> move you could install Openbox or VMWare and install it in a virtual
> machine.
> In forcing yourself to use it as your main computer will get you up the
> learning curve faster because you'll run into hurdles and find how to move
> around them.  It won't take very long before you're very adept with the
> distribution you've installed.  At that point try a different one :)  The
> main differences between Linux distributions is how their boot up processes
> are laid out, their package manager, and whether the distribution includes
> closed source binary blob programs or not.
> Anyway welcome to a new and exciting world :)
> JD
> On Thu, Oct 28, 2010 at 00:41, Brandon Hoffman <brandonmhoffman at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>>
>> Hello everyone, I recently just joined this group (like an hour ago)
>> because I was posting on a forum about wanting to learn Unix/Linux and a
>> passerby who decided to be nosy recommended me to sign up.
>>
>> I would like to learn as much as I can and eventually get some
>> certificates for Linux and Unix (Windows-administration is way too easy.)
>> What would be the top three-five books recommended for reading?
>>
>> I did look on the website and learned about Maricopa's college and will
>> probably go there for a degree eventually, but I perfer my own pace and
>> practice.
>>
>> Thanks ahead of time, I look forward to reading more on all the Linux
>> discussions. I live in the east valley and will probably start attending the
>> meetings as well!