Linix for beginners

Koggit

Koggit

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Everytime I attend an engineering or science panel at school someone always mentions Linux or Unix and how valuable a skill literacy with the OS is for many technical employers, so I want to get accustomed to it now.

What's the best build for a Linux newb? Also, are there builds that can be run from a CD or DVD? I seem to recall reading about that somewhere. If not I'll probably just use an external HDD.
 
I use Linux Mint when I use Linux. It's based on Ubuntu (which is based on Debian - for some reason somebody always has to point that out if you don't acknowledge it straight away ;) - get used to people being snobs when it comes to Linux), but it includes a lot of non-free software that you'd normally have to download manually. Stuff you'll need like Flash, video drivers, codecs, NTFS support, ndiswrapper, msttcorefonts, Samba. It's also prettier. Uses GNOME with a custom menu that is very nice (especially to beginners trying Linux from Windows for the first time), but also has a KDE version (GNOME/KDE are desktop environments). I've tried over a dozen of the most popular distros and Mint is the one that I like best out of the box.

Mint, like most distros, can be run from a Live CD or installed to a USB stick using UNetbootin.
 
Linux Mint is good, but I'm pretty much a straight Ubuntu user. If you are curious about learning more, there are tons of books on the various Linux distros. Trust me, you'll need at least one at some point.

I guess my only question is, other than fulfilling curiosity, what do you what to use Linux for? The only reason I ask is because even the most user friendly distro will often be a pain and I want you to be prepared for that.
 
Ubuntu has a live CD as well.

My suggestion would be find a friendly distribution who has a live CD, pop it in and play around with it. As far as distributions go, everyone has their favorite so just try and pick one that will offer the most friendly setup right out of the box (Mint and Ubuntu come to mind personally).
 
most linux's have a live CD. There are a ton of different versions, so it's best to try out a few and see what you like. If you have an old computer that is the best for testing out as not all versions of linux support the lastest hardware right off the bat. Ubuntu, Mandriva, and PClinuxOS are all good choices to start off with.

If anyone wants to torture yourself try gOS Rocket. It's like Ubuntu and OSX had a severly retarted child together.
 
Ubuntu is the distro I recommend for beginners. It can be ran off a live CD but when installed it has enough for new users to become comfortable but at the same time you can get pretty deep into it. When you get more comfertable you can move on to other distros.
 
I'd recommend either openSuSE or Ubuntu. openSuSE is nice because YaST takes the pain out of configuring your system. Ubuntu is nice because, since it has such a large user base (especially with those beginning Linux), you'll most likely be able to easily find the answers to your questions.

As for needing Linux experience, it doesn't hurt, but I don't think it's as important as many people make it out to be. I work for a software company and, although our product does run on both Unix and Windows machines, most of the projects I've been on have been run on Windows machines. However, it doesn't hurt to know your way around a *nix machine; every now and then I need to jump on a Unix box at work, and it's nice to know what I'm doing.
 
Live CD's are alright, but they are extremely limited and will run fairly slowly. Do yourself a huge favor and just install it to a HDD.

Also, if that external HDD is USB, you will probably need to go through some special steps to get it setup.

Regardless of anything else, I highly recommend Ubuntu. That is what I use on my laptop and I love it.
 
Also be prepared for nobody to agree on anything. Distro choice, the biggest hurdle Linux faces on its road to mainstream proliferation ;)
 
I went ahead and downloaded Mint, thanks for all the suggestions

[quote name='plasticbathmonki']I guess my only question is, other than fulfilling curiosity, what do you what to use Linux for? The only reason I ask is because even the most user friendly distro will often be a pain and I want you to be prepared for that.[/QUOTE]

I just want to know how to use Linux -- I don't necessarily want to use it, I just want to know how.

[quote name='ducttapeBigSexy']As for needing Linux experience, it doesn't hurt, but I don't think it's as important as many people make it out to be. I work for a software company and, although our product does run on both Unix and Windows machines, most of the projects I've been on have been run on Windows machines. However, it doesn't hurt to know your way around a *nix machine; every now and then I need to jump on a Unix box at work, and it's nice to know what I'm doing.[/QUOTE]

I'm not kidding when I say every panel mentions Linux / Unix. Whether it's being on a research project with a professor, getting a co-op, internship, job, whatever, they all recommend getting accustomed to common industry software and programming languages. I'm currently learning Java, Python, Mathematica and MATLAB. I want to learn Perl, Labview and get familiar with Linux. Those seem to be all the hot-button languages/programs that, if you're able to claim proficiency on resumes/in interviews, give you a leg up in the fields I'm interested in.
 
Koggit, when they say they're looking for Linux/Unix experience I think they mean things that are more related to the OS.

Most of the distros mentioned in this thread, like Mint, are basically designed to be Windows replacements that hide the complexity from you. That's fine for learning programming languages and MATLAB but it's not ideal for "Linux/Unix experience".
 
Yeah, I don't want the guts hidden... so I should try a different distro? Got distro suggestions for really learning Linux?

This won't be my primary OS, I don't need it to be pretty or anything.

My goal is, if put on a professor's workstation that's running Linux, or at a co-op / internship, to be able to use their machine and their software (which is likely going to be Linux based) and not be completely lost.
 
[quote name='Koggit']Yeah, I don't want the guts hidden... so I should try a different distro? Got distro suggestions for really learning Linux?

This won't be my primary OS, I don't need it to be pretty or anything.

My goal is, if put on a professor's workstation that's running Linux, or at a co-op / internship, to be able to use their machine and their software (which is likely going to be Linux based) and not be completely lost.[/QUOTE]
It depends on what kind of software it is and what you would need to do with the system. If it's graphical software and you're going to be a regular user, it doesn't matter much which distro you use, but if you want to be able to administer the system you should get more familiar with its inner workings. Red Hat and related distros are most common on servers today, but if you want a more hardcore, old school Unix experience you should try Slackware, Arch, Linux from Scratch (this one will really teach you a lot, even stuff you probably don't want to know) or even a real Unix.

But if you just want to experiment a little first, go ahead and start with any distro, because you can of course use a command line in any of them.
 
I just want to know how to use Linux -- I don't necessarily want to use it, I just want to know how.
Click to expand...

This statement = fail.

The only way to know how is to use it. Regularly.

If you don't, you'll probably forget what you've already learned. Not to mention the fact that the community moves quickly enough that it's easy to lose touch if you don't keep up to speed.

Don't be overwhelmed. Just start using it as your primary OS. You'll learn very fast through google and message boards.
 
[quote name='Koggit']I'm not kidding when I say every panel mentions Linux / Unix. Whether it's being on a research project with a professor, getting a co-op, internship, job, whatever, they all recommend getting accustomed to common industry software and programming languages. I'm currently learning Java, Python, Mathematica and MATLAB. I want to learn Perl, Labview and get familiar with Linux. Those seem to be all the hot-button languages/programs that, if you're able to claim proficiency on resumes/in interviews, give you a leg up in the fields I'm interested in.[/quote]

Just out of curiosity, what field are you getting into? Just wondering because, if it's more of a software engineering field, MATLAB really isn't a seriously programming language, and you don't have any of Microsoft's Visual Studio languages or any SQL on that list.
 
Re: rick, I don't need to know anything that in depth, I believe I just need to be proficient to the point where, if given a Linux workstation, it won't get in the way of my productivity. Specifically, it's to satisfy statements like this (from the requirements section of a physics REU): "Knowledge of UNIX/Linux environments and APIs." --So you think it'll be okay to stick with Mint (since that's what I've already downloaded)?

Re: ducttape, physics & electrical engineering.
 
[quote name='Koggit']Re: ducttape, physics & electrical engineering.[/quote]

Ahhh - then I guess a lot of what I said probably won't help you too much :)

But, either way, I would still add the Microsoft languages onto your list (especially VB.NET and C#). I have very little experience with C#, but from what I've seen, if you know Java, you know C#. As for VB.NET, it's pretty easy - if you know Java and object oriented programming, it's pretty easy to pick up. Also, getting a little exposure to SQL databases probably isn't a bad thing, either. But, once again, I'm giving advice from a software engineering perspective, so maybe you should just disregard it too :p
 
I say go with Mint also
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Another good route to go to try Linux distros that don't have a live version is downloading VMware Server, it's a program that basically tricks the operating system into thinking it's running on a virtual PC. Currently I have Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Ubuntu and a Windows 7 beta virtual machines on my PC.

VMWare server 2.0 is the newest version and uses your web browser, but I couldn't get it to work (you're supposed to use your computer's administrative password to login but it wouldn't let me). After spending an hour trying to get it working I downgraded to 1.0.8, which is a stand alone program (which also lets you go into full screen mode with Ctrl-Alt-Enter, and exit it with Ctrl-Alt, something I doubt the web browser version lets you do).
 
[quote name='Koggit']Re: rick, I don't need to know anything that in depth, I believe I just need to be proficient to the point where, if given a Linux workstation, it won't get in the way of my productivity. Specifically, it's to satisfy statements like this (from the requirements section of a physics REU): "Knowledge of UNIX/Linux environments and APIs." --So you think it'll be okay to stick with Mint (since that's what I've already downloaded)?

Re: ducttape, physics & electrical engineering.[/QUOTE]
That's weird that they want you to know the APIs. Go ahead and try Mint since you already have it, that will take care of the environments part at least.
 
Using Knoppix.. it's quite slow. Is Linux just slower than Windows or is it just the LiveCD builds? It doesn't seem to be just slow access times... there's even a delay in opening an image from my hard drive.

Amusingly, I first downloaded the ADRIANE build, which I later found out is for blind people. It had the most seeds and the biggest version number (6.0) so I thought it was the main build... played with it for ~30 minutes before realizing. I'm glad that's not the usual Linux...
 
[quote name='Koggit']Using Knoppix.. it's quite slow. Is Linux just slower than Windows or is it just the LiveCD builds? It doesn't seem to be just slow access times... there's even a delay in opening an image from my hard drive.

Amusingly, I first downloaded the ADRIANE build, which I later found out is for blind people. It had the most seeds and the biggest version number (6.0) so I thought it was the main build... played with it for ~30 minutes before realizing. I'm glad that's not the usual Linux...[/QUOTE]
LiveCDs are slower. Even if you opened an image from the hard drive, it probably had to load the image viewing program from the CD. I thought you were going to try Mint?
 
Linux is the ultimate OS for molding and making a computer do exactly what you want to do. If you want to get employed by doing Linux, get your Certification and degree then you'll be golden.
 
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