Ask HN: Learning Linux as a Complete Beginner

2 points by abkt 6mo ago ↗ HN

I want to learn programming on my own with C and Linux, as I want to be a generalist and learn like the developpers in the 80's/90's. I've already found books to learn C (C a Modern Approach by King + K&R) and I've already picked a distro (Debian), but I don't really know how to learn Linux. I don't want to learn by watching YouTube tutorials or by copy-pasting answers I've found on Google (or worse, using AI) in a terminal, because nobody learns anything doing that (yet, my generation thinks this is how you learn any skills nowadays). I want to understand what I'm doing and why I'm doing it. Is there a book for complete beginners that teaches you everything you need to know about Linux ?

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forgotpwd16 6mo ago ↗

"The Debian Administrator's Handbook"[0]. Free, comprehensive, updated. Every other book is 2/3 at best. This also includes the venerable TLDP[1], which will've perhaps recommended 15y+ ago. You can also choose the most practical approach and attempt "Linux From Scratch"[2].

[0]: https://debian-handbook.info/ [1]: https://tldp.org/index.html [2]: https://www.linuxfromscratch.org/lfs/read.html (perhaps systemd vers better if wanna learn modern Linux)

reify 6mo ago ↗

20 years ago I just practiced with the core utilities.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Core_utilities

I created a large 8 char password file, then manipulated it with. sed, cut, head, awk, join, paste, sort, tr, uniq, and many others.

sounds boring but it was great fun for me.

really simple stuff:

  making the file 10 chars long
  adding digits to the end of each line
  adding a space to the begining of each line
  adding a special character to the middle of each word
  putting the word file into alphabetical order

etc etc. it got me learning how to navigate the terminal and not rely on extetrnal tools

--help is your friend