Learning Linux: recommended resources
Tags: linux, books
Published: 2023-01-30 14:53:12

Confession: until recently, I wasn't a fan of the command line.

*"What?! A whole year into your developer career, and you don't live 24/7 in the terminal????!"*

Nope. But a few months ago I discovered what the whole rest of the world already knows: tab completion! 🙈 And that made me wonder: **what other command-line superpowers am I missing out on?**

So I've embarked on a quest, a quest in which *(fade in epic music)* I will learn the the ways of the command line, to wield the ancient caret. But I will not stop there. Nay, for it is a quest to a far-off land, a land nearly as ancient as Unix Time itself: the land of Linux—er, GNU/Linux.

*Digression: At one point in the long [GNU/Linux naming controversy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU/Linux_naming_controversy), the name "LiGNUx" was proposed. Good thing **that** didn't catch on!*

## Linux learning resources

I've heard that the gold standard Linux education is to install it, mess around with it until it breaks, and then repeat.

But I like more structure in the beginning, so after Google-sleuthing for learning resources and crossing off some that I tried and didn't find useful, here the promising prospects still on the list. The items preceded by a dollar sign (💲) are not free.

- 💲[How Linux Works](https://nostarch.com/howlinuxworks3)
- [The Linux Command Line](https://linuxcommand.org/tlcl.php)
- [The Art of Command Line](https://github.com/jlevy/the-art-of-command-line)
- [Julia Evans - Your Linux Toolbox](https://jvns.ca/blog/2019/10/21/print-collection-of-my-first-7-zines/)
- 💲[Julia Evans - Bite Size zine pack](https://wizardzines.com/zines/bite-size-pack/)
- 💲[Julia Evans - How Containers Work](https://wizardzines.com/zines/containers/)
- 💲[Wicked Cool Shell Scripts](https://nostarch.com/wcss2)
- [Jesse Storimer - Working with Unix Processes](https://workingwithruby.com/wwup/intro)

This list is excerpted from my learning roadmap, so [check there](https://github.com/fpsvogel/learn-ruby#linux--command-line) for the latest version of the list.

But reading books about Linux wouldn't do any good if I didn't get my hands dirty too!

## Installing Linux on my old laptop

I chose [Linux Mint](https://linuxmint.com/) over [Ubuntu](https://ubuntu.com/) because I like Mint's more familiar UI, and the fact that it's community-supported makes me feel superior 😏

I didn't run into any major installation problems, and all my hardware works. Impressive! That certainly wasn't the case the last time I tried Linux, but that was 15 years ago when I was a wee wannabe hacker. (Now I'm an *adult* wannabe hacker.)

So yeah… not much to say here because it was so easy.

## Goodbye to Windows?

[I've already confessed](https://fpsvogel.com/posts/2020/windows-terminal) that I use Windows on my personal computer, and I use my non-optional work MacBook [in a way as Windows-like as possible](https://fpsvogel.com/posts/2022/switching-from-pc-windows-to-macos).

But recently I listed in my mind the things I like about Windows: customizability, lots of free apps, and a real Linux command line in WSL which gives me fewer headaches than the MacOS terminal.

Then it hit me: **all of these points are even more true in Linux**. So why not switch to Linux?

I want to switch, but the only snag is that I **love** [AutoHotkey](https://www.autohotkey.com/), and a Linux port is still [in progress](https://github.com/phil294/AHK_X11). I use AutoHotkey [to make my keyboard and (especially) my mouse more useful](https://fpsvogel.com/posts/2020/autohotkey). I could probably do the same things by other means in Linux—everything is customizable in Linux, after all. And anyway I might use my mouse less and less as I become more capable with the terminal. Still, I'll wait a while in the hope that I'll be able to more or less plop my AutoHotkey script into the Linux version.

But it's only a matter of time before I switch. So I guess it's appropriate to end with a non-ending.

✨ *TO BE CONTINUED (SOMEDAY)…* ✨