Why learn Linux?

This question may trouble many Linux beginners and enthusiasts, in fact, I can not say why to learn Linux, probably the most solid reason is —-Linux related jobs. Linux may not seem amazing or magical at first sight, but it is fascinating and enjoyable after a long period of learning and exposure.

So how do you learn Linux well?

First, with a good attitude to learn

Learning Linux must maintain a good state of mind, do not doubt their learning direction and results.

In my own experience, I learned Linux because I wanted to compete, and learning Linux became my daily task, like “taxi drivers who wake up every day and owe 200 bucks.” Suffering from the lack of professional teachers in the school, I had to devote myself to the book of sages. After half a year of compulsory learning and compulsory indoctrination, I had serious self-doubt: “What is the use of learning Linux? All those orders to death, huh? I quit the race and finish it. These negative emotions directly hinder my motivation and efficiency in learning, but what in the world is easy? Remember how the first command you typed showed up in a “dark” window? Learning Linux is never easy, but don’t doubt your direction and results. Your efforts will pay off handsomely.

A good beginning sums up some of the nonsense I said above. If you can end something with the same mindset as you started it, you are in a good place.

Here’s a quick tip at the end of this section: Don’t worry about which Linux distro to learn, it’s the same to start with any distro.

Second, appropriate learning methods and teaching materials

As mentioned above, I learned Linux purely by myself at the beginning, and experienced the thickness of “Bird Brother”. As well as Linux from the beginning to the “pit”, a variety of books and videos filled my limited brain capacity. To be honest, “Bird brother’s Linux home dishes” is a very good book, clear, humorous, but because of the book “thick as bricks” and the current version of Linux, so it is not recommended for beginners to learn Linux system. Of course, you’d better read the fourth edition if it comes out (it will be introduced to the mainland this year).

So here’s the real question: video or book?

A lot of beginners tend to look for video tutorials, which are really great, but you need to look for high quality, reputable videos, preferably from inside a large training organization. However, please do not always rely on videos. After all, videos are the same as classes except for the lack of interaction. The only disadvantage of watching videos is the increase in learning cost, which includes acquisition cost and time cost. When you are familiar with Linux basic commands, understand simple service principles and can configure simple services independently, then read a book! Reading can save you a lot of time and money.

What books? I personally recommend beginners to systematically learn Liu Trent’s “Linux is the way to learn” this book. As a master of operation and maintenance for seven years, The theme of each chapter in Teacher Liu Trent’s books is very clear, and the chapter content is concise and concise. At the end of each chapter, there are some small exercises and thinking questions, which can help the novice to understand and master the knowledge of each chapter faster and better. It took me three months to read it all myself, and I learned a lot (for free).

Of course, everyone has his own love, what kind of learning method and learning materials to choose for everyone is not the same, just like falling in love, there is no best only the most appropriate.

Third, don’t resist “boring” English

Is English boring? I am still studying in school, I can often hear some friends who give up English say “we are Chinese, why do we need to learn English”, I will not make fun of it.

Basically when you learn Linux or use Linux for a while, you’ll find that it’s not so much learning the Linux operating system as learning how to read English. For example, in the early days, we basically used English to “look for a man”. Of course, this man is a blond “beefy guy”. Do you speak Chinese to him? I’m sure he can beat you to death. 😀

With the deepening of knowledge, you may need to search some information frequently, when Baidu can not satisfy you, you have to find another man – Gu Ge. It is certainly possible for you to speak Chinese with Gu Ge, but sometimes Gu Ge will implicitly express with you in Chinese “I have too little information here, you go to my brother (English Gu Ge) that ask?” If you can’t describe your question in English, or can’t understand the foreign ox’s answer, then you really have the impulse to kill yourself with tofu.

Take a friend for example. He is one of those people who would rather memorize commands, parameters, and configuration formats than memorize more words. But let’s take a close look. If I memorize 200 words that often appear in man documents, I can guess the meaning of most English paragraphs from these 200 words. Would I still memorize those “lifeless” commands and parameters? And to be honest, language learning is really fun.

Find fun and company

It is a very happy thing to find your own pleasure from boring study. In the process of learning, the landlord often comes up with some fantastic ideas, such as “Is this ok? Would that be a good idea? What will happen if I do this?” This idea always makes me eager to give it a try, although the results may be far from what you imagine. Even Baidu can tell you, but I just love the “thrill” of trying it myself. Of course, the so-called fun is also relative to the individual. Some people regard trying new things as fun, and the small sense of achievement generated by each successful output can also be fun. Of course, there are some bad fun, right?

Finding friends is also a very important thing. When I just learned Linux, there were a lot of classmates and younger students studying under the same roof, competing with each other and helping each other. Everyone can make great progress. Of course, what I’m really talking about here is finding a friend who already knows or works on Linux. Having someone who can help you when you don’t know Linux will save you a lot of time looking up information and scrolling through documents.

What? “Those experts ignored me.”

Honey, I recommend you check your attitude when you ask questions. The building Lord in the QQ group that mix for a long time often see some beginners will ask some questions, after getting the answer even the words of gratitude have no silent diving, even often see that can not get the response to curse. Oh, my God. Who owes you anything? OK, once your attitude is OK, you can wonder if the pros are worthy of their name. The real pros are always willing to share and have a strong “open source spirit”. Of course, sometimes the answer is just a “direction” answer, but sometimes it’s a really good answer that will help you clear up a lot of points in your path.

Fifth, more hands-on practice

In fact, there is no need to say more about this paragraph, which introduces my own Linux learning experience and learning methods. These are different, but the eternal is the four words “practice makes perfect”, learning Linux is not a matter of a day, the accumulation of time and knowledge will certainly push you to the top.

Author: Zhang Hongyu

Links to this article:How did I learn Linux

This article was copied from: Linux. China