Personally I did research more so when they said Win7 was come to the end of life. My computer box was set-up basically for Win 7 five odd years ago now. I talked to a Youtuber who is an ardent user of the Linux OS and asked him was my computer able to run Linux and I gave him the specs of it and he replied that it was. So consequently I downloaded Linux Mint and after some hesitation I just loaded into RAM and had a look at it. It took a while before I bit the bullet and loaded it into my original HD
and run it as a dual boot alongside Win7 which was fine till I had to do a restore of windows and it wiped Mint off the disc.
I had read that some people had trouble with Nvidia cards using Linux. Same with my sound card but both worked without problems.
I installed two brand new HDD as the original was on the way out. I loaded Mint onto one of the new drives and the only trouble I had was with the internet but due to my set-up with my ISP not Mint. With that out the way I have had no real reason to use Win7 at all.
As others that have commented on this thread will testify I thought and read everything that I could to get it going but in doing so I learnt as they say On The Job.
With Linux, BSD or any other Unix derivative around the best way to learn the OS you are using is by using it. Yes you will have errors but without errors you do not learn understanding of the OS you are using.
Yes! I was wary of using the CLI as with windows unless your a so called power user you had no call to use their version of the CLI. But now it fazes me not to use it as I have PDF's with information regarding the commands to use to get the required information.
My last big hurdle is to set-up my HP printer scanner and yes HP does have Linux based drivers for my printer. But as usual just reading and seeing problems others have and how they remedied them.
As the @wizardfromoz pointed out there is wide range of components from which a computer can be built up from costly to el cheapo and each component having its own foibles.
So what you were proposing in your first entry to this thread would be a task similar to creating an encylopedia.
Have a look at this timline of Linux distros then add to that BSD and the others based on Unix.

 


I'll never disagree with a Wizard ;) I've seen too many Harry Potter movies!

Really, and truly understand this - even within Linux, there are differences. Sometimes one can apply the wisdom found in one distro to another, but be careful. Ask about an idea first, many times thinking outside the box finds the solution. Sometimes it just leaves you lost. If you're not sure about how to fix something, and you are running some distro (i.e., Kubuntu), go find that distro's (Kubuntu) forum and see what others say.

The best place to start is with a stock install. That stock install may not have the best video or audio presentation. But if it works, start there by asking what has worked better for others. If it doesn't work, again start there and work one problem at a time until you have a beautifully customized, I-did-it-my-way distro. Be patient. Ask others. Learn things.
 
davy, that timeline spreadsheet is gobsmackingly impressive, what a find :cool:
 
Just think what it would look like with the whole Unix universe added in. It would take barrels of ink to print that puppy; but you could wallpaper your entire house :eek:
 
what a find
I be just a curious Water Dragon :Dand if you hold your cursor on say Knoppix and right click and open in new tab it takes you to the Knoppix home page. The same with the others.
A good way to learn about other distros to satisfy your distro hopping urges.;)
 
Those are not the web pages that potentially new Linux users will look at. I'm referring to Distro websites that don't mention that the software of your equipment will need to be substituted.

@GoldenDuckFloats @wizardfromoz @Nik-Ken-Bah @captain-sensible @poorguy
Greetings Golden Duck,
I see nothing wrong with your project. I think you should devote your time to developing such a storehouse of knowledge. It would surely become the clearing house for all Linux information. You could become famous. It could even be as useful as DistroWatch; maybe moreso.
My question is - When do you start?
Please do keep everyone up to date as to your progress. I'm sure that everyone on this forum would be extremely interested in seeing your results.
I really thought about cataloging 'All Things Linux' myself, but, seeing that I am now 85 years old I might not have enough time left to complete the project - even if I lived until about, say, 110!
Anyhow, I do wish you well in your new project.
Old Geezer
Tango Charlie
 
I agree with you especially about people always telling beginners to read the man pages. I feel telling somebody to read man pages doesn’t really help hugely. Let’s face it the man pages are quite impenetrable at times but they do explain thoroughly what a command does.

Man pages are good but only if you know the name of the command you want to read a man page on! And then you can always use man -k or apropos but it’s sketchy at best. As a beginner you often find you know what you want to do, but don’t know the name of the command or program to do the job and that’s when you jump onto a forum and ask Linux gurus what a particular command is you want to know!

It definitely helps to learn things in sections. For example learn commands that relate to networking, then maybe learn commands related to process management, commands related to working with files and directories.

Having a sort of mental map of where things are and what relates to what. This obviously takes time and some effort and study. Linux is very vast and at times it can be overwhelming at the magnitude of the information available.

I find
Is an excellent site that cuts straight to the core of what you need to know. It’s a like a great brief summary of the system and how it all works and it’s useful commands
 
No doubt, the man pages can be difficult, but they layout and describe every option and every parameter for a given command. The Linux Command Line book (available on-line and absolutely free) has a ton of good information.

The thing is, while we can share what we know and what we have found, it is up to YOU to be curious, look around, use the internet, use us. Google and I have been friends for my entire Linux/BSD life :cool: When I discovered my first forum, they became my candy/crack.
 
No doubt, the man pages can be difficult, but they layout and describe every option and every parameter for a given command. The Linux Command Line book (available on-line and absolutely free) has a ton of good information.

The thing is, while we can share what we know and what we have found, it is up to YOU to be curious, look around, use the internet, use us. Google and I have been friends for my entire Linux/BSD life :cool: When I discovered my first forum, they became my candy/crack.

abetter alternative to the man pages is this command

curl cheat.sh/

so if i want a really nice simple straightforward descriptions,summary and options for a command for example say the ls command then type :

curl cheat.sh/ls
( replace ls with whatever command you want sweet man pages for)

and the output is beatiful its much easier reading than a man page.
But the man page is more comprehensive, but the curl cheat.sh/ls is much easier and simpler

if the curl cheat.sh/ doesnt offer what your looking for then you can always retreat to the man pages
 
In connection with almost all posts here on Linux {.} org, I recall something I learned in high school from an English teacher who flunked me in the 11th grade {had to re-take it in 12th grade to graduate}.
Her statement to the class one day was:
"I can teach you, but I can't learn for you: that is something that you must do yourself."
I can see that some who come looking for 'help' appear to want others to do the learning for them.
All you 'advanced' learners are some of the most patient people I know, and pretty nice too.
So KUDOS to Linux {.} org people!!!!
Just an Old Geezers' rambling mind again.
TC
 
In connection with almost all posts here on Linux {.} org, I recall something I learned in high school from an English teacher who flunked me in the 11th grade {had to re-take it in 12th grade to graduate}.
Her statement to the class one day was:
"I can teach you, but I can't learn for you: that is something that you must do yourself."
I can see that some who come looking for 'help' appear to want others to do the learning for them.
All you 'advanced' learners are some of the most patient people I know, and pretty nice too.
So KUDOS to Linux {.} org people!!!!
Just an Old Geezers' rambling mind again.
TC
i was thinking looking over some replies that wiz should really be "St Wiz" since it appears he has the patient of a Saint !
 
In connection with almost all posts here on Linux {.} org, I recall something I learned in high school from an English teacher who flunked me in the 11th grade {had to re-take it in 12th grade to graduate}.
Her statement to the class one day was:
"I can teach you, but I can't learn for you: that is something that you must do yourself."
I can see that some who come looking for 'help' appear to want others to do the learning for them.
All you 'advanced' learners are some of the most patient people I know, and pretty nice too.
So KUDOS to Linux {.} org people!!!!
Just an Old Geezers' rambling mind again.
TC

We live in interesting times. most people can get what they want at the push of a button and have it instantly! but learning will always be learning, it takes time weather it be an instrument, computer science or any new skill/hobby to absorb, assimilate and understand concepts and information. There is no quick trick or no shortcut just a passion to want to learn and an open receptiveness to learning new things, it will never be a quick process, our modern world seems to promote speed and rapidness but true mastery of anything takes time and always will do
 
our modern world seems to promote speed and rapidness but true mastery of anything takes time and always will do
I agree with what you wrote and will add what a pedagogue at the turn of the 18th -19th century said in regards to knowledge
Thinking leads man to knowledge. He may see and hear, and read and learn, whatever he pleases, and as much as he pleases; he will never know anything of it, except that which he has thought over, that which by thinking he has made the property of his mind. – Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi.(1746 – 1827)
 
I agree with what you wrote and will add what a pedagogue at the turn of the 18th -19th century said in regards to knowledge
Thinking leads man to knowledge. He may see and hear, and read and learn, whatever he pleases, and as much as he pleases; he will never know anything of it, except that which he has thought over, that which by thinking he has made the property of his mind. – Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi.(1746 – 1827)

wise words
 
curl cheat.sh/

that is sweet, buddha - ta, didn't know that one, just tried it with apt-get and it works a treat including an awk example

i was thinking looking over some replies that wiz should really be "St Wiz" since it appears he has the patient of a Saint !

patience is diametrically opposed to some of my 8 mental disorders, but practised and learned with 5 stepchildren over 2 marriages

true mastery of anything takes time and always will do

the gaining of wisdom begins with the understanding and acceptance that striving for true mastery is a commendable goal, and provides numerous rewards, but that in an evolving world such as linux, achieving it may always be one step beyond your reach

cheers

wiz
 
The greatest gift you can bestow on your children is not the gift of knowledge, but knowing where to look for that knowledge
(A B H aka Condobloke, 2020)
 
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The greatest gift you can bestow on your children is not the gift of knowledge, but knowing where to look for that knowledge
(A B H aka Condobloke, 2020)

@Condobloke
Well said my friend.
Perhaps another way of saying it would be "Learn how to think."
One thing I tried to impress on our 3 sons was this: "Don't let anyone do your thinking for you. You do your own thinking and come to your own conclusions."
I have also tried to impress that on our 7 grand-children.
OG TC
 
that is sweet, buddha - ta, didn't know that one, just tried it with apt-get and it works a treat including an awk example



patience is diametrically opposed to some of my 8 mental disorders, but practised and learned with 5 stepchildren over 2 marriages



the gaining of wisdom begins with the understanding and acceptance that striving for true mastery is a commendable goal, and provides numerous rewards, but that in an evolving world such as linux, achieving it may always be one step beyond your reach

cheers

wiz
@wizardfromoz
Hey Chris!
"achieving it may always be one step beyond your reach"
Similar to the game of golf. Absolute perfection is almost unattainable. There always seems to be a mistake somewhere along the way that needs work.
Learning should never be finished. It keeps life interesting.
Old Geez again.
 
@GoldenDuckFloats @wizardfromoz @Nik-Ken-Bah @captain-sensible @poorguy
Greetings Golden Duck,
I see nothing wrong with your project. I think you should devote your time to developing such a storehouse of knowledge. It would surely become the clearing house for all Linux information. You could become famous. It could even be as useful as DistroWatch; maybe moreso.
You seem to have misunderstood my intention. I'm not necessarily writing my own guide, but short-cuts to sites that have already written detailed explanations. A list to gradually train new users. But choosing the order of topics (permissions, grep, ect) is somewhat difficult when your not familiar with what you can do. It requires you to know about things such as 'keyrings' for PGP signatures.
 

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