[ShadowAce]

I have been thinking about this series of posts for a while--introduction to Linux, and some tutorials on how to do specific things on Linux.

Feel free to discuss/correct/explain/question things in here. Also, request any specific topics you would like to see discussed. No promises, but I will do my best to cover topics that people would like to see.

[ShadowAce]

[Mogger]

Thank you.

[ShadowAce]

Here is a good Introduction course from Linux Foundation that is Free to use.

It is self-paced, contains 60 hours of course material, has hands-on labs, video content, and discussion forums.

I recommend it--and I have zero affiliation with Linux Foundation. I have never used their courses as I get my training from Red Hat. However, I have heard a lot of good things about them.

[whodathunkit]

Is there a Linux specific ping list?

[Alas Babylon!]

Did you know that 53% of all VM installations in Microsoft’s Azure cloud are Linux?

https://www.zdnet.com/article/linux-now-dominates-azure/

[AppyPappy]

I use Red Hat every day but only command line. Our Development VM is Ubuntu.

[rockrr]

They overlooked one small but important term...

FOSS: Free and Open Source Software

About six years ago we got a new IT manager who came from Amazon where they were heavily invested into Linux workstations. He wanted to introduce Linux into our Wintell environment and chose me to set up a FOSS distribution server.

The only Linux experience I had was as a hobbyist - mostly creating VM’s of various Linux distros for testing and evaluation.

I did my homework and built and configured the server but when it came time to put it online the network team had a fit. They wouldn’t allow a server that they couldn’t control to sit on their network. I offered access but not a one of them would touch it.

My manager and the manager for network services went into a meeting and when they came out the FOSS experiment was cancelled.

I never even got a chance to see it work.

[notdownwidems]

Thanks for that ShadowAce; if I am not already please put me on the ping list for Linux

[SanchoP]

I've been a Slacker (Slackware) for 19 yrs and have to put a plug in for Jeremy over at Linux Questions. He's helped me out of more jams (Mostly self inflicted.) than I could count.

[Openurmind]

Fantastic article to start this off with!

Thank you!

[Openurmind]

Here is another option that can be done right away not needing the physical CD to try it out. It can be downloaded and put onto a bootable USB stick. This is how I got mine.

Here is an article about a good distro version for anyone brand new to Linux. This feels and functions just like Win 7 and will be very easy to use right out of the box.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/mint-18-3-the-best-linux-desktop-takes-big-steps-forward/?bhid=25275353122913214062959128115956&ftag=TRE-03-10aaa6b&loc=newsletter_large_thumb_featured
https://www.linuxmint.com/rel_sylvia_cinnamon_whatsnew.php

Make folder and download the Rufus and ISO files from the next two links into it.

https://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=246 ( I downloaded my mirror file from “Linux Freedom” site )

https://rufus.akeo.ie/

Go into your folder and the Rufus is executable file that will launch the stick builder with a ISO file search. Just point it to the Mint ISO you downloaded into that same folder and it will add it to the process as it makes the stick for you.

Pull this up in another tab and read these instructions carefully step by step for the proper setting options for the Rufus program to make your stick.

https://tutorials.ubuntu.com/tutorial/tutorial-create-a-usb-stick-on-windows#0

Then of course you can then boot it from your Bios set up screen to try it. My PC made me power up with the stick in the port before it would see it and give me the option to use it as a boot option. Took me a bit to figure this out. lol

[whodathunkit]

I would like to mention that not all hardware is compatible with Linux.
I recommend that anyone who thinks they may wish to use it in the future make certain that any hardware/peripheral they are going to purchase now has Linux listed on the packaging as a supported OS.

[oldvirginian]

I have inherited an HP laptop whose former owner was the dodgey type. Heavily into porn and a known drug dealer. When I got the laptop it was without thepower cord. Enough charge remained to determine it was password protected.

I can get another power cord for about $20 bucks. No problem there.

My landlord works at a university maintaining the servers the students are working with while he studies for his masters.
He offered to install any OS I wanted when I get it powered up.
And this will be a second computer for me until I decide which one I like.

I have heard a bit about Linux and had thought about trying it out.
My computer knowledge is zilch.
I can turn it on, off, install most commercial programs....just don’t ask me to go near command line stuff, I walk away.

Suggestions.
Should I go with a Windows7/Linux combo or what.
Or a straight up Linux machine?
What Linux distro?
As I said the computer with the Linux would be secondary for a while at least.

Any and all help/suggestions appreciated.

[zeugma]

Here's a little helpful utility for Linux users. It will find duplicate files for you, and put the results into an editable file that you can then use to delete any of those duplicates that you want to delete. This can be really helpful with photos especially. I've noticed that over time, unless you are very careful, you end up with lots of duplication of images. The following is the script. Save it as "dedup.sh" and make it executable with "chmod 755 dedup.sh"

#!/bin/sh

OUTF=rem-duplicates.sh;

echo "#! /bin/sh" > $OUTF;

find "$@" -type f -print0 | \
    xargs -0 -n1 md5sum | \
    sort --key=1,32 | \
    uniq -w 32 -d --all-repeated=separate | \
    sed -r 's/^[0-9a-f]*( )*//;s/([^a-zA-Z0-9./_-])/\\\1/g;s/(.+)/#rm \1/' >> $OUTF;

chmod a+x $OUTF; ls -l $OUTF

If you execute this from your home directory, you will end up with a file in that directory called "rem-duplicates.sh"

If you have no duplicate files it will be pretty much empty. If you do have some dups, you'll see something like this...

#rm ./books/BAEN/Linux_Journal/LJArchive/LJ/267/12046f9.jpg
#rm ./books/BAEN/Linux_Journal/LJArchive/LJ/268/12046f9.jpg

#rm ./books/BAEN/Linux_Journal/LJArchive/LJ/086/4682aa.jpg
#rm ./books/BAEN/Linux_Journal/LJArchive/LJ/087/4730aa.jpg
#rm ./books/BAEN/Linux_Journal/LJArchive/LJ/088/4795aa.jpg

So, what you have is essentially a generated shell script. In a bash shell script, anything to the right of a "#" is ignored as a comment. If I wanted to, I could delete the "#" from the front of line 1, 5 and 6, and save the file. If I then ran the resulting script, the filenames that I'd deleted the "#" from would be deleted with no fuss and no muss. Any line that I'd left the "#" in front of would be ignored.

Note that this dedupifier doesn't look at filenames, or access/modify dates. It is actually looking at a checksum of the file data itself. As such, it is pretty good, though if you have a lot of data and/or files, running the 'dedup.sh' program can take a long time to finish looking at your files.

[texas booster]

Bump for later.

[ShadowAce]

10 Things you can do with Linux that you cannot do with Windows

[Redleg Duke]

PFL

[Vigilantcitizen]

Ubuntu user since 2003ish. Havent looked back. Neither have then 8 people I brought with me over the years.

[catbus]

Hi. Please add me to the ping list.

[Openurmind]

OK be patient with me here. I realize that most of these are probably also included in other core distro packages. But Just wanted to list them all for comparison to other distro packages.

This is the Linux Mint Cinnamon 18.3 software bundle list and all of these except the command line are point and click Graphic interface programs and features. I looked pretty hard and this list is now probably the only one on the net for his distro. lol

Accessories:

Archive Manager - Calculator - Character Map - Disks - Document viewer - Files - Font viewer - Help - Image Viewer - Password and Keys - Redshift - Screen Reader - Screenshot - Text Editor - Tomboy Notes - USB Image Writer - USB Stick Formatter - Virtual Keyboard.

Graphics:

Gimp - Pix - Simple Scan.

Internet:

Firefox= Hexchat - Pidgin Messenger - Thunderbird Mail - Transmission.

Office:

Libreoffice - Libreoffice Base - Libreoffice Calc - Libreoffice Draw - Libreoffice Impress - Libreoffice Math - Libreoffice Writer.

Sound and Video:

Install Media Codecs - Media Player - Rhythmbox.

Administration:

Backup Tool - Disk Usage Analyzer - Driver Manager - GParted - Install Linux Mint - Login Window - Power Statistics - Printers - Software Manager - Software Sources - Synaptic Package Manager - System Log - System Monitor - System Reports - Terminal - Timeshift - Update Manager - Users and Groups.

Preferences:

Accessibility - Account Details - Applets - Backgrounds - Bluetooth - Color - Date and Time - Desklets - Desktop - Desktop Sharing - Disks - Display - Effects - Extensions - Firewall Configuration - Fonts - General - Graphics Tablet - Hot Corners - Input Method - Keyboard - Languages - Mouse and Touchpad - Nerwork - Netwotk Connections - Notifications - Online Accounts - Panel - Power Management - Preferred Applications - Privacy - Screen Saver - Sound - Startup Applications - System Info - System Settings - Themes - Welcome Screen - Window Tiling - Windows- Workspaces.