Beginners must read: Seven Tips for learning Linux

 

1. Do not "Play with Linux"

Many people may feel confused when using Linux. which release should I use? Is it because I have not installed anything? How can I upgrade it so quickly! Why is it so unstable! Whenever a new software is used, he wants to try it out. Whenever a new version appears, he updates it and selects programs he has never seen in the new menu.

In fact, you use Linux for Linux without finding the right reason to use Linux. First, you must specify the purpose of using a computer. You use it to solve your actual problems, rather than to learn how to install the operating system, rather than to test which version is easy to use, it is not to "catch up with the trend", not because your hard disk is too large, and you want to take up more space.

If you do not know what to do after you start the computer, it is best not to use the computer first, because you may have more important things to do.

2. Do not pick up the release version

When using Linux, many people always doubt whether another release version is better than the one they are using. They always doubt that they will lose support in the future and have to use another release. So many people today are Redhat, and tomorrow they will be replaced by debian, and later they will be gentoo ,...... Some even install two versions of Linux on one machine, and then compare which one is better.

In fact, you do not have to do this. Any release, as long as you are familiar with it, will almost never be affected by the way you work above. You often hear that Debian updates are faster than Redhat and have more packages than Redhat, but you can download the source code directly to the main site of the program you need to compile it.

Debian, TurboLinux, SuSE, Redhat, Gentoo,... Any version is good.

3. Do not be a "missionary"

Many people are constantly discussing "Linux vs. Windows" in the discussion area, and even have a red ear. This is not necessary. Because different people have different needs and different living environments, you cannot draw a conclusion. We need to respect others' choices. This is something you need to remind yourself before discussing tools. Something that is easy to argue about: Word and TeX; Emacs and VIM; MAXIMA, Mathematica and Maple; Gnome, FVWM and KDE; Mutt and Pine ...... Be calm.

What you need to care about is not what your tool is, but what you have done with it. Being proficient in Linux doesn't mean anything, because it is just a tool. If you can use Windows to complete your tasks well, you do not have to spend time getting familiar with Linux. It will not be too late until you find that only Linux can complete a task one day, because Linux fans around you will be happy to help you.

If you do not like one thing, you must oppose others. The world needs diversity and people need FUN. Using your own interests to suppress others will destroy all your interests. There is no need to argue over what I like.

Do not be a "missionary "! You said that I am "preaching" now "? Thank you ~

4. Install the program directly from the source code

Many people don't need to use the latest source code. They can only install the rpm and deb for help. I said why you don't need to compile the source code. This version is much higher than rpm and has many new features without annoying dependencies. However, he said: "If I use the source code for compilation and installation, it will be inconvenient to uninstall and a lot of garbage will be left ."

Why do you want to uninstall the program before it is installed? Don't you know what this program is used? You should change the practice of looking for a program to try it out. Instead, you should first understand that those programs have the same functions, listen to others' opinions, and see what strengths and weaknesses they have, then pick a program that best suits you.

Compiling and installing programs from the source code is not only more suitable for your machine settings than installing rpm, but also they are usually installed in the/usr/local directory. In this way, if you change the hard disk to reinstall the system, you can also copy the previous programs in the/usr/local directory. My/usr/local has as many as 2G programs. How long does it take to reinstall and configure a new machine? In fact, I uploaded them to a new machine through the network, and then went out for dinner. When I came back, I got another Linux machine with the same touch.

What should I do if I really want to uninstall the make install program? The answer is to delete it directly. Do not think that directly deleting the program will leave garbage, causing "system instability ". (Btw: Who taught you this? Haha .) Make install is nothing more than placing the executable program in/usr/local/bin, and some function libraries in/usr/local/lib, put the data file in the directory of/usr/local/share. You can delete all these items without leaving any garbage, even if a file is not deleted, it does not occupy much space, making the system unstable. UNIX is so simple

However, it is not recommended to install several programs from the source code. They are Mozilla, Open Office ,... they will occupy several GB of space and several hours of time during compilation. I don't think it is worthwhile because you cannot get more benefits from compilation, it is better to directly install the compiled version.

5. Do not blindly upgrade

I don't know whether this is the psychological effect or something. Some people may want to change it to a relatively large version number. Many people have a comfortable Redhat configuration, but once the Redhat releases a new version, they will download it as soon as possible and choose to upgrade and install it. As a result, the configuration files that have been modified are often washed out. The new software has brought about new problems. For example, once my rxvt was upgraded to 2.7.8, it had a conflict with miniChinput. When I upgraded to Redhat 8.0, I found that xmms could not put mp3 by default, XFree86's xtt module has a new bug on I810, which will cause Mozilla to exit suddenly.

If you have already configured everything, never upgrade it as a whole. This will waste you a lot of time and it is not worth it. If necessary, you can only upgrade some components, such as kernel, glibc, gcc, XFree86 ,...

Use a classic UNIX program

Good programs can be easily transplanted on many UNIX systems, such as bash, VIM, Emacs, Mutt, FVWM, and xterm. If you use these programs, you can install them on workstations such as Sun, HP,... so that you can work in almost the same environment on various models! You don't need to use CDE on Sun, replace it with KDE on PC, and install a FVWM on them, and use the same configuration file to get a consistent interface.

Most of these programs have been tested and developed by many people over the years. They have complete functions and are well considered in various situations. They are definitely your good assistant.

6. do not configure things you don't need

If you only want to be an ordinary user like me, the main purpose is to use Linux to complete your own scientific research tasks and daily work, therefore, you do not need to require the system administrator or network administrator standards, because it is really hard for a system and network administrator. It is a waste of time for ordinary users to learn complex maintenance system tools that are not commonly used. If they do not need to learn them, they will soon forget them!

I am not a qualified network administrator. All my servers are configured with only the functions I need. Setting ssh and ftp is enough, which saves me a lot of trouble. I never think too much about "security" because Linux is safe by default. Without a tape drive, I don't need to worry about the odd parameters of tar. czf, xzf, and ztf can already meet all my needs. Sed, awk,... I only use several common command lines.

7. Don't worry about kernel source code

Unless you want to study the operating system, you should first master how to use Linux. I used to read so many kernel source codes and write the driver. I finally found that I still have a lot of things that cannot be solved by Linux. Let's learn from me. You should first master shell, the use and principles of Xwindow are no simpler than those of the kernel.