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The Linux Upskill Challenge

theleo.zone

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Re: The Linux Upskill Challenge

#41

Post by wrayjustin »

lrvick wrote: post #32

Honestly most of the people that approach me to learn Linux, I have them follow the Gentoo Handbook to compile and configure a Linux workstation from scratch.

This has been my go-to training approach for decades. Many of those individuals are now in high-seniority roles that encompasses Linux Administration.

It is a tried and true method. If you want to be _good_ with Linux (including administration), build it: Follow the Gentoo Handbook, and restart every time something is wrong or fails.

Alternatively, if you want to be a semi-competent user you can go the path of installing a user-friendly distribution (like Ubuntu, etc.) and get various Windows-based workstreams working (Gaming, Windows-Only Software through Wine, etc.) But this is less likely to push you to the same tier.

Re: The Linux Upskill Challenge

#43

Post by igetspam »

amelius wrote: post #40
klysm wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sounds like your asking how to install software without using precompiled artifacts and also without compiling stuff.

Well, I want to run new versions of software on a system in which I basically don't want to touch system directories like /usr and /lib etc.

You can download precompiled binaries of a lot of things from git these days. You can modify your PATH to include a location of your choosing and put the binaries there. It probably won't work well though because you'll be missing dependencies.

You could also chase down debs, download those and install them manually and specify your install path. (I don't have the deb switches memorized, so many pages are your friend.) You'll have dependency problems here too but you'll get friendly warnings that can help you hunt down other missing packages and you can work your way up from there. It won't be fun.

I'm glad I started in Slackware and used it for about 15 years as my daily driver. I'm comfortable with Linux The Hard Way and when people tell me how hard it is to run Linux because all the weird kinks, I just chuckle.

Re: The Linux Upskill Challenge

#44

Post by igetspam »

arcade79 wrote: post #24
29athrowaway wrote: post #11

You can achieve much more learning in 20 days. Important fundamentals are omitted but some oddly specific subjects are cherry-picked and given an unusual amount of attention like running nmap. Running nmap (a portscanner) can get you fired from your job and there's precedent of this. The text formatting is inconsistent. Reader mode makes it better, but a simple markdown file would have clearer. Explaining what a serv…

If running nmap gets you fired from a job, then that wasn't a job worth keeping. Sheez.

If Little Bobby Tables is playing with his new nmap tool, from work and scanning High Security Org, LLCs SaaS range and they see the origin comes from an IP registered to New Corp, they may call New Corps security team. If the security team can identify Bobby as the source, they might fire him for annoying High Security Org because with the initial contact came a Scary Letter with Legal Words.

Sorry Bobby, we can't afford a fight.

It does happen. I could (but won't) tell about similar things happening at FAANGs.

Re: The Linux Upskill Challenge

#46

Post by jame-se »

pastage wrote: post #23
29athrowaway wrote: post #11

You can achieve much more learning in 20 days. Important fundamentals are omitted but some oddly specific subjects are cherry-picked and given an unusual amount of attention like running nmap. Running nmap (a portscanner) can get you fired from your job and there's precedent of this. The text formatting is inconsistent. Reader mode makes it better, but a simple markdown file would have clearer. Explaining what a serv…

These are all valid points, the apt and nftables have bitten me as an older timer. While I think one should handle nmap, tcpdump with care I have never seen an organization that fire someone based on it.

I may or may not work for a large credit bureau in the US, and I had a legitimate need to run nmap from my laptop to scan a server. 30 minutes later, I get pinged by security asking about it, which I gave an explanation, which they followed up with asking if I sought permission to use the tool (no, why would I?). They made me remove nmap, because that’s what hackers use. A month later, I get an email from someone else letting me know the situation was resolved. The point being, I ran one scan which involved no less than 7 people and wasted a month of time.

Re: The Linux Upskill Challenge

#47

Post by ndsipa_pomu »

cbsks wrote: post #5

I’m on team vim, but it is still interesting to me that the challenge has vim but not emacs. I would think that an introduction to Linux would include both.

I've been using and administering linux machines for decades and I can't remember ever using emacs. I still only know the real basics of vi - how to insert/delete and most importantly how to save and quit or quit without saving. Anything requiring more manipulation (even copy/pasting), I switch to something like Geany instead.

The point of learning vi is that it's nearly always available, even on a broken system and is often a key part of fixing broken systems, so learning the basics of it is more or less essential. Not even just Linux - I've had to bring up vi on an ancient HP-UX system once to get it to boot.

Re: The Linux Upskill Challenge

#48

Post by dizhn »

amelius wrote: post #35

What's the best way to run software on an old Ubuntu system that I don't want to upgrade or run apt-get on, and I don't want to run stuff inside a Virtual Machine, and snap is broken, and docker as well? Compiling stuff seems too much trouble because of all the dependencies. I was hoping for Nix to save me here, but it only compiles for a specific libc version.

On a technicality I will say you can use podman or distrobox/toolbox assuming you can install them.

More seriously your best bet is to compile things on other systems and move them over.

Re: The Linux Upskill Challenge

#49

Post by dizhn »

analognoise wrote: post #9
xylophile wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Regardless of which team you're on or why, the base installs of almost every distro includes vi or vim, but many leave out emacs and nano. Since you have to pick one editor to be the first one taught, it makes sense to teach vim to avoid losing the learner.

This is as it should be. Emacs is about enlightenment; enlightenment is a path to be walked not a destination; it is a journey you must choose. Along the way, you might accidentally edit text files. That's not the point. Anyway, makes sense to me why it's not default included.

Surely we can all agree that nano (pico) is a toy compared to either.

Re: The Linux Upskill Challenge

#50

Post by tryauuum »

mdiesel wrote: post #22
ttrefa wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Emacs is about enlightenment; And that's why I'm on team Vim. I rather not use a tool that needs/uses cult-like slogans to convince people to keep them hooked. I want the usefulness to be the reason, not some kind of belief system.

A defining feature of cults is how difficult it is to leave... :q!

Have you ever tried exiting emacs? It's not easier than vim.
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