Nah I just ask deepseek. It set up a set of dockers for me in 2 minutes and also gave me commands to create my folder structures.
You probably did this, but for anyone reading, if you copy commands from the internet, look up what all the commands and flags do to be sure you understand it fully, and then type it in yourself in a terminal instead of copy/paste. If you get an instruction to curl <something> | sh, split it into two steps, curl to get the script to a local file you can read, read it, then run if you know what it does. Do these things for anything you don’t trust 100%.
I did half of that. I looked at the commands to see what it did, what folders it made. Then I checked that the dockers pulled is the same from the official docker sites. I pasted the codes in rather than manual typing though. I’ve done this from sonarr, radar, audiobookshelf, jellyfin and sabnzbd.
The terminal commands to get dockers working I did copy directly from deepseek after checking it’s the same on docker’s site. Weird part is I tried to follow docker’s instructions first but it didn’t work. Then after looking at deepseek, it gave the same instructions from a different page of deepseek. So what I copied into command should have been the same.
Other than that I don’t really install anything as I’m quite paranoid about these stuff.
Good. To be honest I sometimes copy/paste too, but there is a possible trick to hide characters in the copied text with an automatic return at the end so when you paste you immediately run something you don’t intended. If I copy from some random shady blog I’d be more careful than from the official docker documentation I guess.
If you are the “computer person” in your family, you probably have experience screwing with, breaking, and fixing whatever OSes you have used over the years.
The refreshing difference with Linux is that the software and the people who created it are not trying to prevent you from doing what you want with your computer.
Wow, in that way it’s almost like Linux is the same as every other thing.
I’m still gonna have to dual boot for the foreseeable future, but I force myself to usually boot mint unless I want to play any vr/multiplayer/racing games (which is often, unfortunately). But I do really enjoy how much you can do in linux and learning it.
This is why you have to switch to more and more difficult distros over time, to keep yourself on your toes
Me going from Mint to Ubuntu to Kubuntu to Neon to Arch. My experience with the Arch installation process is just the command
shutdownSomeday I’ll be comfortable enough with this nerd shit to trust myself with unsupervised access to a CLI. Until then I’m happy just knowing what a DE is
next step is nixos! holy fuck transitioning from arch to nixos was hell, i did like 10 years of arch.
Or Gentoo? I haven’t used nixos yet so cant speak on it but Gentoo has been awesome to tinker and learn with.
It’s a bell curve. Eventually you switch back to ez mode for your main machine and have alternative or niche distros on spare kit
That was me for a while, then I decided I was done learning computer. 💩
Over the years of using Windows (2010-2023), I don’t remember learning anything at all, only using the command line twice, once to check the hard disk and once to clean the registry… I’m in love with Linux terminal.
Over the years of using Windows (2010-2023)
I switched to Linux full time in 2011 👴. Was fed up with Windows 7’s bullshit.
But I must say, I leaned a tone while I was using Windows XP,. This is during this time I would build my first PCs, setup local network at home and for LAN parties, setup file sharing and damn printers 🤬, start to learn programming.
Did you not learn anything because you simply did not need to, perhaps? Because you can do a lot if you need to.
My gosh if it was easier I would have done so much with Windows before switching to Linux. Instead I was stuck with bad performance and annoying pop ups from my device manufacturer.
What popups? Am I doing something wrong/right that I do not get those? What could you not do but now can?
HP had a thing that popped up in my task bar that in order to hide I had open their preinstalled software that didn’t work.
Also less common were the Microsoft account things after updates and other Microsoft fullscreen things that caused serious difficulties as they wouldn’t even render right in some cases (I got something telling me to install windows 11 which wasn’t even possible for some reason and the close button was off screen, that happened the last time I used that computer after not having touched it for a couple of weeks).
Edit: Things I couldn’t do but can do now that I use Linux and learned how to:
- bind my own system key combinations
- select the right (GPU) driver version (though the newest has been fine for months now)
- use a launcher that doesn’t open bing in ms edge when I spell something wrong and just generally is quicker.
I guess so.
Meanwhile, when, as a little more than a basic user, I look at my system, feeling as if I’m dealing with a dumpster fire just to have that nagging recurrent insight: “I actually have a brain and can learn!”
You can actually go through the motions for years and learn nothing if the software allows for it.
I’m sure this will draw some criticism but I’ve found duck.ai to be extremely helpful in troubleshooting minor issues with my Linux mint installation and recently with accessing and understanding SMART hard drive diagnostic data. It’s very helpful in figuring out which commands could be useful in the terminal and in understanding exactly what each terminal command is doing. Of course finding answers in forums and manuals is still relevant and important but as a beginner, this has been a fast and easy way to get advice.
Just be careful to think twice before doing what it says. (That goes for any advice from the internet too!)
Like all the old stories of people’s GPS steering them into a lake. Let the GPS help you, but still, like, actually look at the road!
ETA: It’s probably quite reliable at explaining what terminal commands do, since it’s drawing from many manuals. But sometimes it might completely make up the answer, in a way that’s almost right but terribly wrong. You think the command does one thing, so you use it ‘appropriately’, but really it does something else so your carefully thought out use goes completely wrong.
Good point. I don’t know why I didn’t think about this sooner, i literally use it for other programming stuff.
That makes sense. It cuts through the RTFM bullshit, and gets you a clear answer without unnecessary ego.
Hopefully we can make progress on the “getting people started” front instead of the “I hate UI and am superior to others” circlejerk
I haven’t personally encountered any of that myself. I personally don’t use GUIs (UI could also refer to a terminal) for anything other than apps that implemented one for their own settings and unless they use the same terminology as the terminal commands or files I wouldn’t be able to guide anybody through one. So if people are just unwilling to learn how to use a inferior yet simpler way to do something just because somebody who asked for help finds it simpler that seems totally reasonable.
I’ve tried my hardest to use Linux but gave up. I want to like it, but the hurdle is too high to get everyone on board. At the end of the day, the computer is a tool. Maybe a hand made walking stick is better than a manufactured one - someone who is not versed in the ergonomics and construction of walking sticks is going to opt for the stick that enables them to walk today. I use computers enough to see learning Linux as an investment, it’s just not something I have time for today.
I like that analogy. A walking stick you buy from a store can never fit you as perfectly as one you make yourself, but if you don’t know how to make a walking stick, you’re gonna make a shitty walking stick. I’m happy that I’m in a position to walk with a shitty stick until I get better at carving, so to speak
Do you guys also keep a notepad file on your desktop with all the usual commands and shortcuts on it? I can’t imagine remembering them all otherwise… and I kind of cringe at the non stop DDG ing I have to do to do some basic liux stuff.
I press up key in terminal to find my commands, as for shortcuts I only use a few so I already remembered all of them
I’ve got things that need to run periodically set up in crontab, and create menu launchers for things that I run as needed.
Just go up arrow til you dont need to anymore lol, i sometimes keep a sticky note, wish gnome had a sticky note in the topbar extension
I use the up key for that
I use KDE, and I put a sticky note widget on my top bar, so when you click it, it drops down (and then disappears when you click off of it). Whatever is on it is saved between sessions.
Works great for this kind of thing.
Edit: I also put a webbrowser widget up there that points to this handy site: https://linuxcommandlibrary.com/
Same deal, click the icon and the site drops down.
I’m using my companies’ mediawiki personal user page to keep snippets and one liners that took me some time to cobble together. I export that regularly to a personal device, so, yes. I’ve found that I never look at it because once I’ve hammered something together I usually got the concept so next time it takes me a fraction of the time.
I use obsidian to make notes of how to install and setup applications from a fresh install, for example to install mariadb-libs when I install digikam so that I can use the mariadb database on my nas, and the way to mount my nas shares in fstab
No. Stuff I use more than once I just put in a shell file. I don’t really run much on the terminal besides those files and using it to update my system.
Sometimes I’m searching for a recipe to some obscure Linux tool and finding my own answers on Stackoverflow from ten years ago.
I ctrl-r my history and set the histsize to some ludicrous value
No never even crossed my mind but ig I was also in a competition for Linux that required me to memorize basically every single command and option
Which is bullshit tbh, which in turn is why I don’t like LPIC. Even RedHat exams give you VMs with full manpages. Know concepts and know what to expect from which tool, everything else is wasted resources.
Yes.
Source: Am Systems Admin (engineer/architect/your mom)
This guy’s lucky to have such a good mum.
Remember to share your notepad with them, even if they’re all like, “mom, your bash usage is like from the '90s, so cringe!” Behind all the fuss, they’re still learning from you.
Try a different shell, like fish or zsh, maybe. Something with really intense command auto-completion and history.
I personally use fish, it is amazing for this kind of thing.
ETA: also read up on rc files for whatever shell you are using. Creating aliases and functions based on what you do all the time is essential IMO.
But I use Linux all the time and am still horrible at it!
it’s a good os. on the other hand everytime i learned anything in windows it would get invalidated by new ux and new bugs…
Me when I realize the more I use Termux, the better I get at using Debian
