ArchWiki https://wiki.archlinux.org/
this post was submitted on 20 Oct 2023
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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Unfortunately, Linux manuals are pretty scattered around. I'll try to find something for you:
- If you want to learn the very basics of Linux command line, here's what I found on the web: http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Teaching/Unix/ ;
- For on how to use GNU user-land tools (Bash, cat, less, grep, sed, etc.), I recommend the GNU manuals which are very well-written: https://www.gnu.org/manual/blurbs.html (example: Bash manual);
- GNU manuals are also downloaded for offline read by default. These manuals are provided with
info.
- GNU manuals are also downloaded for offline read by default. These manuals are provided with
- For GUI desktop, it depends on what Desktop Environment (DE) you use:
- KDE wiki with tutorials: https://userbase.kde.org/Tutorials
- GNOME app overview with documentation: https://apps.gnome.org/
- If you don't know what DE you use, KDE uses sharp edges for windows and GNOME uses round edges ( 👁️👄👁️ ).
- For system, as @Terumo@lemmy.world pointed out, for system-specific stuff, there's ArchWiki that has topics about everything.
- If you want to understand what are the /usr, /usr/local, /etc, /dev, etc. filesystem directories, you want to look at the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard: https://refspecs.linuxfoundation.org/FHS_3.0/fhs/index.html
- There is also a free training course for Linux: https://training.linuxfoundation.org/training/introduction-to-linux/
- If you're a developer and want to find out how deep the rabbit hole is, you may want to look at an online book Operating Systems: Three Easy Pieces: https://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~remzi/OSTEP/
EDIT: Forgot this important material:
- If you need to know command-line argument specifics for a particular program, use manpages (For example, to find brief information about
grep, typeman grepin your shell, andinfo grepif you need a complete manual).
Thanks a lot !!
Maybe tell us what you need the documentation for... Writing kernel modules? Installing distros? Configuring software? Archlinux wiki is a very good general reference, btw.
Yeah, I mean for linux in general, everything around linux
Yeah, I mean for linux in general, everything around linux
Waves hand in the general direction of the internet. It's all there.
Seriously, hone in a bit. Like "I'm a complete noob where do I start" or "I installed Mint and it works fine, now what?"
Something like that
More than, "I'm a complete noob where do I start, where do I learn, why, who, where, when"
One of the first lessons to learn is how to ask questions.
The doggedness on tripling down on "I want to know everything" is remarkable but it is not going to get you a result.
Your best starting point until you are able to articulate a more focussed question is the Arch wiki as already suggested.
Do a bare bones arch install on a PC you don't care about breaking (a very old one with limited hardware perhaps) while following the arch install instructions on the wiki.
If you're a noob then you'll constantly run into terms you don't understand look them up as you go.
Ciao and good luck.
End of lime
Hum... Okay... Thanks for the help !
Answers like this is why people stay out of Linux, you want to get in and the first thing they say is "learn to ask a question!!!"
If you couldn't tell OP was a beginner from the second question, then you are not good at understanding questions.
Yeah no it's not, I offered some gentle prompts to help him refine his question into something that could be answered. As did several others.
He ignored that and tripled down with "I want to know everything"
That's not an answerable question.
You have to want to learn before you can be taught. If you can't listen to the prompt of "ok cool, you're keen but pick a thing" then there's no point me trying to help.
Read between the lines, when an expert has ever said "I want to know everything", OP is clearly a beginner in the subject.
Yeah, to me it reads as someone who recently came from windows, where it can be more or less reasonable to "know everything" about how a user might be aloud to configure and use their OS, and doesn't yet understand what it means to have a truly open OS
It would help if they had given more info, even if you want to know "everything" you gotta start somewhere, but even then, linux is very multi facetted, and it's hard to teach someone without knowing what they know now
Are they already using a distro? If not start there, but if so and they're for example using nabora then information on mint wouldn't exactly suit them very well
That is to say, it's a tough situation, I agree that they didn't handle it the best, but I'm not fully certain how it should have been handled instead
You seem stuck on me supposedly not recognising he was a beginner.
I'd encourage you to re-read the two examples I gave as to what perhaps the questions he might want to ask were. I clearly did recognise that was the mostly likely scenario.
When they ignored the suggestion and came back with their "boil the ocean" response I responded with the only answer possible to an unanswerable question and pointed them to ground zero for linux knowledge. Install Arch and read everything you don't understand.
Doing that process will force them to ask specific questions that can be answered.
Of course if you think there is any answer to the question of where someone should go to instantly learn everything then I would love you to post it. I certainly will be bookmarking it.
Gentoo Wiki https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Main_Page
Although i myself use an Arch-Based System i find the Gentoo wiki most of the time better regarding configuration of services
For me the archwiki is for getting started with a program. I use the gentoo one when I want to customize the experience
Arch Wiki for more general info. Official docs/man pages of whatever thing you are working with for details.
manpages. For many of us, it's the only documentation that existed prior to the Internet.
https://linuxjourney.com/ is a good place to learn about linux. For documentation, manpages for sure.
Thanks!
Documentation or tipps?
Tipps:
- itsfoss
Documentation