Eager to learn more about Linux, looking for a good distro.

[luciusad2004]

Hey all, it's been a long time since I've been around these parts.

I've been using Ubuntu on and off for the past couple years with the intention of learning more about Linux and how it functions. The problem I think I've run in to is that the more user friendly distro's are so friendly that I can never force myself to do anything the hard way and learn something.

My solution to this was to install virtual box and start toying with other distro's. I'm looking for something a little more advanced, the problem is that, even though i can competently make my way around Ubuntu and other similar distributions, The command line and other lower level system utilities are still pretty foreign to me. I was thinking about trying out Arch because i really like their philosophy and it would make me work to get it up and running. Actually i already ran through the installer quick in a virtual machine but didn't take the time to go through all the config files and tinker with anything, i just wanted to see what all was involved. Anybody out there think this is a good idea? I'm also open to other suggestions but it has to be a relatively lightweight distribution because I'm running in a virtual machine on an already underpowered computer.

I want to start with something minimal and work my way up to a functioning desktop environment while, hopefully, learning about the Linux file system, configuration, and command line tools along the way.

[x88x]

Considering your experience with Ubuntu, I would recommend trying out Debian next. Ubuntu actually branched off Debian around 5 or so years back, so a lot of the underlying stuff is very similar, but it's a much more hands-on distro, so it'll give you more necessity to learn the hands-on stuff, but still have a familiar structure.

...or if you're just needlessly masochistic, you could always try out Gentoo. :P

[OvRiDe]

The best way to learn linux is to use it. When I say use it, don't just load it up and surf the web, write a couple of text docs, and open up the terminal to see if it works in a GUI environment. Gentoo is a great distro to learn on, but its far from masochistic as stated. Gentoo compiles packages from source but uses portage and emerge, which is a package manager. The advantage is that you really don't have to worry about any dependency issues when you are installing something. The portage trees handle all that for you. Just like Apt does for Debian and Ubuntu. Depending on the installation method it can be challenging. Now there are some prebuilt installers for Gentoo (Kororaa, is a Gentoo based distro that uses install scripts), but you can really do your self justice by doing a stage 3 install using the hand book which has the step by step procedures.

http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-x86.xml

The biggest thing I have found to really learn linux is to set up some sort of goal or scenario. For instance, give yourself an assignment to do a stage 3 Gentoo install, and then load up openssh, apache, mysql, and php. (Yes I know thats just a lamp server) But do them individually. Then once your done install some sort of CMS such as Drupal, Joomla, or Wordpress to make sure its functional. Treat it like a school assignment or a work assignment. Give yourself a deadline. Make it like a game even. Once you have accomplished that.. Do it again. Maybe this time once you have installed the OS and openssh.. do the rest strictly over SSH from the a different box over the network, or I guess in your case from the VM host machine :).

If you want even more of a challenge.. then its best to begin with something a little closer to when it started. Slackware!

http://www.slackware.com/

One of, if not the oldest distro. Everything is compiled from source. Downloading and extracting tar balls, setting up the .config file, running a make on it and praying to the kernel gods.. ahhh.. the good old days.. :) I honestly don't miss them! But I did learn a lot. :D

Hope this helps, and good luck on your endeavor!

[luciusad2004]

Considering your experience with Ubuntu, I would recommend trying out Debian next. Ubuntu actually branched off Debian around 5 or so years back, so a lot of the underlying stuff is very similar, but it's a much more hands-on distro, so it'll give you more necessity to learn the hands-on stuff, but still have a familiar structure.

...or if you're just needlessly masochistic, you could always try out Gentoo. :P


The best way to learn linux is to use it. When I say use it, don't just load it up and surf the web, write a couple of text docs, and open up the terminal to see if it works in a GUI environment. Gentoo is a great distro to learn on, but its far from masochistic as stated. Gentoo compiles packages from source but uses portage and emerge, which is a package manager. The advantage is that you really don't have to worry about any dependency issues when you are installing something. The portage trees handle all that for you. Just like Apt does for Debian and Ubuntu. Depending on the installation method it can be challenging. Now there are some prebuilt installers for Gentoo (Kororaa, is a Gentoo based distro that uses install scripts), but you can really do your self justice by doing a stage 3 install using the hand book which has the step by step procedures.

http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-x86.xml

The biggest thing I have found to really learn linux is to set up some sort of goal or scenario. For instance, give yourself an assignment to do a stage 3 Gentoo install, and then load up openssh, apache, mysql, and php. (Yes I know thats just a lamp server) But do them individually. Then once your done install some sort of CMS such as Drupal, Joomla, or Wordpress to make sure its functional. Treat it like a school assignment or a work assignment. Give yourself a deadline. Make it like a game even. Once you have accomplished that.. Do it again. Maybe this time once you have installed the OS and openssh.. do the rest strictly over SSH from the a different box over the network, or I guess in your case from the VM host machine :).

If you want even more of a challenge.. then its best to begin with something a little closer to when it started. Slackware!

http://www.slackware.com/

One of, if not the oldest distro. Everything is compiled from source. Downloading and extracting tar balls, setting up the .config file, running a make on it and praying to the kernel gods.. ahhh.. the good old days.. :) I honestly don't miss them! But I did learn a lot. :D

Hope this helps, and good luck on your endeavor!

Thanks guys I guess I just get stuck in this rut of installing a distro and then just browsing the web : /

I actually considered installing gentoo on my old Power Pc based iBook. It's so old that it can't even really run OS X anymore and new versions of OS X aren't even compatible (have you ever tried to use an outdated mac? Apple DOES NOT make it easy.) I thought maybe gentoo could breath some new life in to it when i saw that it was PPC compatible. The specs are reaaaaaly low end though, if the thing even still runs.

I was considering giving myself a project like setting up a sever, but i didn't know what kinda server to set up or what all i could do with one. The only server i would really have a need for is perhaps a nice file server. A server that could stream music would be kinda cool but I doubt i would use it much lol If it works out in a virtual machine there is a new local computer shop that seems to have tons of refurbed dells and such for pretty cheap. I could pick up a second machine and then maybe set up an actual server on the network.

Perhaps I'll download Debian and/or Slackware later and give them a shot. I'll save gentoo for my iBook if i ever manage to dig it out of the closet. And I like the idea of getting the ssh server running and working via ssh. I might try that. Thanks guys!

[x88x]

I thought maybe gentoo could breath some new life in to it when i saw that it was PPC compatible.

FWIW, most big distros have a PPC-compiled kernel available. Not saying you shouldn't try Gentoo; by all means, do. Just FYI.

[luciusad2004]

I've been browsing through the slackware website and it keeps talking about floppy disks, do I need to use a floppy drive to install slackware? :?


I suppose it wouldn't be an issue on a virtual machine but i'm not sure if I even still own a physical floppy drive.

[OvRiDe]

I believe the DVD's are bootable. Slackware has been around for a while so they still have that information out there. There are also some USB and PXE boot images as well. Once site that can help out a great deal is http://www.HowToForge.com. They happen to have a full install on Slackware 12. Its a very good read.

http://www.howtoforge.com/the_perfect_desktop_slackware12

[chaksq]

I actually considered installing gentoo on my old Power Pc based iBook. It's so old that it can't even really run OS X anymore and new versions of OS X aren't even compatible (have you ever tried to use an outdated mac? Apple DOES NOT make it easy.) I thought maybe gentoo could breath some new life in to it when i saw that it was PPC compatible. The specs are reaaaaaly low end though, if the thing even still runs.

Do it! I'm running Ubuntu on a PowerPC iMac G4 and it actually made the machine useful again.

[luciusad2004]

Do it! I'm running Ubuntu on a PowerPC iMac G4 and it actually made the machine useful again.

I never even realized there WAS an ubuntu ppc port. My machines a G3 and with really low memory though. I was gonna go for something really minimal.

[x88x]

It hasn't been officially supported since 6.10, but it's definitely still available.
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/PowerPCFAQ
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/PowerPCDownloads