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Linux Newbie

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by gsg

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Last week I got to get on a Linux server for the very first time. I've pretty much used Microsoft OS's, so this is a whole new learning curve for me.

I've googled for some basic commands, etc... but wondered if anyone out there has any favorite sites that they can recommend for a newbie. As soon as we get our applications installed, I'm going to have to do some basic operations, navigation, etc.., and I want to be more familiar with Linux commands. The flavor of Linux, if that makes a difference, is RedHat.

Oh, and if anyone can explain how they came up with "grep" to mean search, I'd really like to know!

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by charliespencer

Or Fedora, which is the consumer-level version of RHEL? RH use to offer extensive downloadable help and tutorial files.

Look around for the "Rute User's Tutorial and Exposition" by Paul Sheer. While it was written in 2001, the concepts and commands are still a good introduction.

Google for Linux manuals oriented toward experienced Windows administrators. You probably already know what you want to do; you just need to know the Linux way of doing it.

by gsg

You're right, I know what I need to do, I just need to get comfortable with the Linux world.

I'm excited as I've used mostly Windows, and this is the direction that more and more Healthcare Vendors are going.

Hopefully, I won't get a bunch of Microsoft vs. Linux bashers in the discussion.

by neon samurai

Not too spam or direct anyone away from TR but Linux.com has a good "new too linux" section of articles linked off it's front page; should be top left or right.

If your interested in trying your own linux base OS install consider looking at Mandriva One or any of the other liveCD distributions. You can run them without touching your installed hard drive and have a good look at a prebuild setup. I'm partial to Mandriva due to the draketools. (You'll hear a great deal about "Linux" being only the kernel and Linux based Distros or OS all being different but similar; I'm usually one of the ones spouting that off admittedly.)

As for Grep meaning "too understand" it's an old Unix hackers term unless it goes further back even. (My bad, "Grock" means "too understand as does "Hack"; eg - I hack what your getting at. I grock what your getting at.")

http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/G/grep.html

"Globally search for the Regular Expression and Print the lines containing matches to it"

The Jargon file is a fun read and clarifies a lot in general if your interested. Also, ESR's essays around the Cathedral and the Bazzar (catb) plus FOSS in general are a worth while read as are Richard Stallman's essays though most of us fall somewhere between the two.

The first recommendation "new to Linux" collection is probably your best place to start though. There is also an article in there archives on a basic introduction to many cli commands if it's not also in the new user section.

Asking in the forums around here is also pretty good for getting a response.

by jdclyde

What version of Redhat? It does make a difference.

Will you be working mostly from the GUI or from a command line?

Which GUI is running(if you are using one)?

The O'Reily books are always good. "Linux in a nutshell" is a good list of commands.

Depending on how fast you can pick up new things, there is even a "Linux Administration for Dummies" book that takes the time to explain the commands and why you do them, and gives a good background on linux.

And of course, http://distrowatch.com/ always has good information.

What will this server be running (services)?

Get a note book and keep notes. There are many things that you only do about once or twice a year, and nothing is more frustrating than to not remember how you did it last time.

by charliespencer

Keep all your notes in a text file.

It's easier to update them when you find you left something out. It'a also easier for others to read them. Either print them out or save them in two places so you've got some backup. Finally, it will give you experience with Linux text editors.

Pick a naming convention for your notes and stick with it. This will make them easier to find if you misplace them. I begin all my personal 'How to" file names with "0. ReadMeCAS ..." so they'll appear at the beginning of a directory listing (CAS are my initials).

by jdclyde

text editors. learn vi. it isn't THAT hard.

Some people "like" other editors, but the nice thing about vi is it is on EVERY system you sit down at. why learn one that might not be available?

by gsg

I've already set up a list on my SharePoint site. As I work through the procedures, I'll document each one as a step by step. That way, I can export it, search it, etc...

I've done that with other systems, and it's nice if I'm out somewhere and my system has problems. I can direct the on call person to that site, and walk them through the documented procedure. They've appreciated that in the past, and I like it because if I perform a procedure only a couple of times a year, I just have to search my list for the procedure.

by gsg

I'm not sure yet what version of RedHat. I should know in the next couple of days.

Most of the stuff I'll be doing is a combo. There are menus provided, but there are a lot of things that have to be done via the command line.

As for what we're running, it's a medical system that will run monitor capture, charting, pharmacy, and a whole slew of other things. Oh, and Oracle 10g is the database.

by dawgit

JD Palmetto (Palmetto is talking about "manpages") is correct get some books, you won't regret it.

Next contact these fine folks:
Ozark's Linux User Group (OzLUG)
Location: Springfield, Missouri
Web Site: http://www.ozlug.org/
Email: moo@bluecows.com

Then try these web sites:
http://www.linuxcommand.org/learning_the_shell.php
http://www.linux.com/
http://www.linuxlaboratory.org/
http://www.unix.com/
http://www.linuxtoday.com/

I'm sure you'll be a bit overwhelmed at first, but don't give up. We're all here.
I hope that helps a bit. -d

ps:
"manpages" - contained in every Linux set-up is the instructions on "How To". for everything. just: [ $ man -a ] -d

by ontheropes

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grep

grep (Global Regular Expression Print) is a command line utility that was originally written for use with the Unix operating system. Given a list of files or standard input to read, grep searches for lines of text that match one or many regular expressions, and outputs only the matching lines.
The program's name derives from the command used to perform a similar operation, using the UNIX text editor - g/re/p

Google is my friend. :D

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