New to Linux, Suggestions?

[Guest_imported]

I just got a copy of Redhat 7.0

I installed it, and having never even touched a Linux box I dont know what to expect??? Took me a while to even get the GUI up. Unfortunately I dont have the documentation either. Are ther any books you would recommend for a new Linux user? I know Windows products and am familiar with them but with Linux I am at a complete loss at the moment and could really use some advice on some reading materials. Any bascic tips would be greatly appreciated as well. The PC is a PIII 800, 256 MB SDRAM, 10 Gb UDMA66 ide drive, 3com nic, S3 AGP video card, creative labs sound.

Thanks,
Alex

 

[jhoke]

The beauty of linux, is you allready have 99% of the info you need. You may need to dig a bit, and do research, but most distro's install a ton of docs, how-to's man pages, etc.

I will bet you that if you log into the linux box, startX up if it isnt already, and open netscape, you will get a default "home page" and in that page there are links to your documentation on your machine

-John

 

[timsr]

There are a couple of books that may help. Linux in a nutshell published by O'Reilly has a list of commands, syntax and brief description. Learn Linux in 24 hours is okay and the fall back of course is Linux for dummies.

Good luck and have fun, Linux is fun to work with.

 

[rycamor]

The best quick tip is: when in a terminal window, or at the command line, enter 'mc' to get a very nice filebrowser and text viewer/editor, with dropdown menus based on the 12 function keys. It also responds to mouse clicks, even though it is not a 'GUI' application. It's called Midnight Commander, and it's a clone of the DOS program called Norton Commander. For a newbie, it's the best way to find your way around a system quickly. (Once you get more used to the command line, you will find that is even quicker).

Spend some time at:

-

http://www.linux.com

-- Look for info about hard drive optimization to really get full performance out of your system. Start reading the HOWTO's.

-

http://www.linuxnewbie.com

-- Lots of tips for beginners

-

http://www.linuxstart.com

-- If you want to find out about all the software available for Linux, this is the place to ... well, start.

Happy Linuxing

 

[Guest_imported]

Thanks for all the tips!
Alex