Right... I am going to try and stick to this new'ish year resolution. I want to try and delve into the insides of Linux so I can learn more in depth this OS. I am not going running to the library so online resources only please. If I manage to keep this going I might conceder buying a few 'bibels' .... The idea is to try and get as far as possible. So.... Hit me! Best sites hosting eBooks and the likes. Thanks all for helping.
WOW, there is so much to learn, it's easy to get swallowed up I am taking a really defeatist point of view. If a Linux distribution doesn't work properly on my computer, I won't try and fix it, i'll just download another distro instead! As I am writing this, I am currently downloading Zenwalk 2.0.1, simplyMEPIS 3.3 AND BeatrIX 2005 in the vein hope that one of them installs ALL of my hardware properly, so I don't have to I should really get my head down and learn Linux as well!
I am not necessarily interested in getting distros to work for me although the idea came from there. I just need a challange. I am very unfocused in what it is I would like to invest myself in. So far I have tried to learn programing with some success and hardware but if you wish to learn about hardware you need the hardware. I have learned a hell of a lot from building my own system but I feel that to be good with hardware, apart from obviously studying, you really need to have it infront of you. Resources wise it is a lot easier to learn about software as it is cheaply (or freely) available. I think, and I might be very wrong, that it would be interesting for me to learn what makes an OS tick and it only feels natural to learn about Linux as it is where I would like to find myself eventualy. I know it might sounds a bit silly for a home user to learn about an OS intended originaly or mainly to operate networks, but if I become knowledgable in the subject, and it leads to new areas of interest, it is an added bonus. This might all sound very naive and ill informed but... hey, it is probably because I know too little about it..... Thanks for the input!
The best way to learn is through trial and error in my experience. You only know how to use and fix an OS, once you know how to break it first You should create problem situations, like intentionally deleting the sound card drivers, and then try and fix it! I've only just touched the surface with Linux, and already it's obvious that this is an entirely different beast compared to Micro$oft Windows.
I imagine you want to delve into the depths of the linux kernel, then read up on the code and services that keep it in operation as well as the architecture. If you want an experience, try Gentoo. Its not for the faint of heart though, takes days to compile. Otherwise the kernel source should be interesting, although programming knowledge helps greatly in C/C++.
You can start out by visiting my home web server: http://anti-trend.homelinux.org (yes, it's running Linux ). It's currently hosting many informative books about Linux. And there are hundreds of similar online resources out there as well.
Here's some more free Linux literature hosted by the Linux Documentation Project. Lots and lots of good stuff there.
