Finally, A Newbie’s Getting Started Guide to Linux [PDF]

cute-tux1You’ve probably heard about Linux, the free, open-source operating system that’s been pushing up against Microsoft.

It’s way cheaper, faster, safer, and has a far bigger active community than Windows, so why aren’t you on it?

Don’t worry, we understand. Like many things, venturing of into a completely unknown world can seem rather scary, and also be pretty difficult in the beginning. It’s while adapting to the unknown, that one needs a guiding, and caring hand.

MakeUseOf is proud to present to you A Newbie’s Getting Started Guide to Linux!. In this free ebook you’ll be introduced to the basics of the Linux operating systems. Get to know what it is all about, and familiarize yourself with the practical side. Basically, if you’re a complete Linux newbie and looking for a quick and easy guide to get you started this is it.

excerpt-linux

Let Stefan Neagu from TuxGeek explain to you how to get Linux running on your computer, introduce you to Ubuntu desktop and get you familiar with Linux alternatives to popular Windows programs. This guide will tell you all you need to know in 20 illustrated pages, helping you to take your first steps.

Let your curiosity take you hostage and start discovering Linux today, with this manual as your guide!

Don’t let us keep you any longer, and download the Newbie’s Initiation to Linux in PDF.

Update: Also get The Incredible Guide to NEW Ubuntu (Karmic Koala).

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Simon Slangen

I'm a student from Belgium, absorbing math and science in preparation for my computer sciences studies. I've been writing for MUO for quite some time now, which - because I just love everything regarding technology. Check out my meme? http://meme.yahoo.com/slangen/

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  • Dim

    No, it’s not a proper guide, sorry. Nice few pages at the beginning and then everything suddenly stops.

    No explanation on how to activate drivers (“just go to System->Administration->Hardware Drivers and activate them” is good enough).

    No explanation that in Ubuntu you also install software via double-clicking on .deb. Just like in Windows, but the extension is .deb, not .exe. You should also mention getdeb.net.

    Why software installation is explained using Synaptic, which is an advanced too, instead of just System->Add/Remove which is easy to use?

    No explanation that in Ubuntu you have /home/username folder instead of “My Documents” and it’s good to put it on a separate partition.

    You forgot that Gimp, Brasero, Evolution are already installed in Ubuntu, and also need to be explained in the list of apps. Other smaller apps need to be mentioned too.

    You should mention the best software existing for Linux to start with. Songbird, Shutter, Gnome Do, TrueCrypt, Ubuntu Tweak and many others. Don’t forget to tell readers that Skype, Dropbox, Adobe Acrobat (if they still need it), Nero and other proprietary software exist on Ubuntu and there’s usually a .deb file to install them.

    You should explain what Compiz is, show how the system updates itself via Update Manager. And many other things.

    Screenshots should be updated with the latest version of Ubuntu.

    I see no reason to mention console for newbies at all, this is an advanced tool. Personally, I don’t use console at all, and don’t remember any commands.

    So in general, it’s not a “proper guide”, it’s “just a try”, not even “a nice try”. Sorry, but it’s not enough.

    • AntiVigilante

      The console is not an advanced tool.

      Synaptic is not an advanced tool.

      Unless of course you think your cell phone is an advanced tool.

      • Dim

        both are advanced tools unless of course you think that programming your cell phone is not an advanced thing.

        • Lord Sovereign of the Imperial French Navy

          are you even a programmer

          do you have any idea what you’re talking about

        • http://hitchedhiker.com Abhilash

          I agree with AntiV and Lord
          These are not advanced tools. You can maybe get away with calling the console an advanced tool(command line scare tactics and all taken into account). but synaptic? Really?

        • Dim

          I am a programmer. Do YOU have any idea of what usability and user friendliness is?

    • http://ubuntulinuxtipstricks.blogspot.com Mackenzie

      There is no need for a separate /home. Ubuntu won’t delete the old /home directory even if it’s on the same partition when you reinstall. This has been the case for at least a year.

      And getdeb.net is NOT recommended. The packages are not of the same quality as is required by Ubuntu. If they were, they’d be in the main archive.

      • Dim

        Ubuntu won’t delete, good, but other distros? The user might want to try something new in the future.

        getdeb.net contains software you won’t get in the main archive because they are new (like the newest version of Transmission, main archive is usually not updated with latest versions, just bugfixes) or because they have some “political” issues (like Songbird), because of which it is impossible to put them in the main archive. In some cases getdeb.net is the only way to install software easily, for example, Songbird developers provide .tar.gz officially and provide a link to getdeb.net for Ubuntu users.

        • http://ubuntulinuxtipstricks.blogspot.com Mackenzie

          File a bug in -backports then. If you want Jaunty’s Songbird in Hardy, file a bug in hardy-backports asking for it. We have the infrastructure for a reason.

        • Dim

          See above. Songbird is not included in repositories for “political” reasons (something related to their modification of XULRunner). Infrastructure won’t help with this.

    • http://tuxgeek.me/ Stefan Neagu

      Thanks for this very detailed and insightful comment. In part 2 of this guide I am going over all of the aforementioned topics. It’s true, I’ve missed a few points of interest which I will undoubtedly cover in the next iteration.

      • Dim

        I’m ready to help, please contact me.

      • Anirban

        Thanks a lot for the guide though the one for the intermediate user is eagerly awaited. Thanks Dim for contributing constructively. Windows makes life a lot easier primarily because i have a pathetic memory. Trying on the Linux platform has been a bitter pill to swallow with its steep learning curve. Thanks for making the passage that bit easier.

  • Dim

    By the way, I’m interested in improving this guide for MakeUseOf. I think we might have a deal about that. You have my email, please contact me.

    • kseve

      hey Dim u mentioned some pretty interesting points, like getdeb.net, any other recommendations?

  • Dave

    Did I miss it, or is email not mentioned? Is it somewhere in OpenOffice? Will it screw with my company’s server or whatever? Integrate with BlackBerry?

    Thanks for the guide, you’ve got me interested…

    • http://ubuntulinuxtipstricks.blogspot.com Mackenzie

      Evolution is the included mail client. I know it can talk to Microsoft Exchange servers (aside from the usual POP & IMAP), but I don’t know about Blackberry.

    • http://ubuntulinuxtipstricks.blogspot.com Mackenzie

      Oh but by the way, I use KMail setup for disconnected IMAP. It syncs quickly and you can go offline between syncs if you want. The integration with the calendar and address book applications is really good.

  • http://ubuntulinuxtipstricks.blogspot.com Mackenzie

    “KDE, an alternative to Gnome, is in many ways different. Without getting into a discussion about underlying developer frameworks (Gnome is based only on free technologies), I personally think that KDE took a wrong turn about 3 years ago.”

    And KDE is what? Not based on free technologies? Qt’s been under the GPL for a few years now, and as of Qt 4.5 it’s under the LGPL (like GTK) as well. What’s non-free about that? Well, I mean, except that the GPL is more free than the LGPL, meaning that for a while there Qt was more free than GTK. Now it’s only as free as GTK.

    And um…what happened 3 years ago? I saw many people upset one year ago when KDE4 was released as the simple 4.0 version for developers to hack on (not meant for end users), but 4.2 is really quite lovely. I just switched from GNOME to KDE at the end of January when 4.2 was released.

    Also, what’s up with chronically misspelling “Cheese”? The application’s name is “Cheese” as in “say ‘cheese!’” not “Cheeze.”

    ZaReason is the vendor from which I got my Ubuntu laptop.

  • http://hitchedhiker.com Abhilash

    I think it would be more relevent if Linux Mint was used in a linux beginners guide, since it is infinitely easier to use than ubuntu. Driver’s setup included.

    • Dim

      Linux Mint already has its own guide, the official one. See the link to the guide here: http://linuxmint.com/download.php

    • http://ubuntulinuxtipstricks.blogspot.com Mackenzie

      Ubuntu also has driver setup ;) It’s called Jockey, and on first run, it’ll offer to install your Nvidia or ATI drivers.

      • http://ubuntulinuxtipstricks.blogspot.com Mackenzie

        Oh yeah… it’ll do SmartLink modems and Broadcom wireless too.

  • Regine

    Thanks for pointing this out DIM. I will wait until your improvements.No sense for me to install and not knowing what I am doing.

  • N

    Dim, you are the rudest, most conceited person in this world. If you think it’s so bad, why don’t you write your own, if you know so much? If you don’t need the guide, then why bother reading it? Do you think a newbie wants to be told everything, and about the best software? Surely, the best thing about being a newbie is finding those things out for their selfs, like I did.

    • Dim

      Thanks, sounds like music to my ears. The thing is not to say “it’s bad”, but to explain why. And I did this (but you didn’t in your critics of me). If you could look above, I actually suggested my help twice. Want to criticize me? Point-by-point, please.

  • N

    For one thing, you call Synaptic an advance tool, when in fact it’s simpler than the add/remove.

    Command line is NEEDED in Linux. You can’t do everything through the GUI. To do somethings, you just have to use it. And newbies need to get to grips with that. Just because you’re a fool that can’t use it doesn’t mean others can’t. My 7 year old daughter can use it, for crying out loud, and she does instead of using the GUI for quite a few things.

    • Dim

      In Linux? Maybe… In Ubuntu? No. “You have to use it” – who can force me? You? What relation has graphical Synaptic tool in System->Administration to command line? Easier than Add/Remove? Why? Because you say so? Fool after all this? Not me. You.

      • N

        For one thing, Synaptic is apt-get, which is one of the most simplist commands ever.

        • Dim

          Just no comments. Setting an equal sign between a front-end and a back-end is something that doesn’t require any further comments anymore.

    • http://ubuntulinuxtipstricks.blogspot.com Mackenzie

      1. Add/Remove is Synaptic’s simplified interface
      2. Don’t believe me? Can you filter broken packages in Add/Remove? No. Can you set up complex searches on multiple fields of package metadata? No. Can you do these in normal Synaptic interface? YES!

      • Dim

        Even your grandma filters broken packages and sets up complex searches on multiple fields of package metadata.

  • http://hitchedhiker.com Abhilash

    No need to fight guys… at the end of the day you are all gonna use what you see fit. Me, I am a distro hopper. I tend to not stick to any distro for more than a few months even though my relgular linux use started with ubuntu. I am now of Granular.
    A newby should really try mint before ubuntu… I think they would find it a lot easier, especially for running notorious hardware.
    I can safely say that I am no longer a newby… but I can also say that for day to day use… I dont need a guide or the command line.

  • http://itechnomax.com Macky99

    Thanks for the ebook. I appreciate it and i may need help in case i found any difficulty.

  • Maddy

    I found the e-Book Useful. Thanks a Lot.

  • http://www.guvnr.com the_guv

    tx Simon .. thought you may be interested in something related to this ..

    Set Up an Unmanaged VPS (4 Newbies) .. The V-P-S Bible

    I hope that’s handy. It DOES use the console, which is NOT an advanced tool :P

    (My VCR is an advanced tool)

  • pc

    the e-book is pretty much ok. bt Dims points r of cncern.

  • http://lifs.in Rishi

    nice book…………

  • http://funcinema.co.cc/ Funcinema

    Its a great ebook !!!

  • http://peacebyjesus.witnesstoday.org daniel

    The guide is a step in the right direction, but having tried all the major Linux distros, what i found most problematic was gaining full R+W privileges to my Windows NTFS drives (which Linux can now do), and configuring a wireless network card to work. I did just install Puppy on a 933mhz/384mb PC and it flies, and no R+W issues with a 2nd Fat32 drive. Thank God for those who do some good work on making such.

  • Chris

    Actually, Dim, you really are conceited and arrogant. You blast the guide for including console and Synaptic stating that you don’t need to use them in Ubuntu, then go on and list Ubuntu only programs. Same with getdeb. Yes it’s not Ubuntu only so it works for Linux, but your response to “the console is needed” was “In Linux? Maybe… In Ubuntu? No”. The guide says it’s about Linux. Linux is an umbrella term used to cover OS’s (distro’s) built using the Linux kernel.

    Really.. Fk up mate. Ubuntu is not Linux. It’s trying to be, but fortunately there’s more than one distro in use around the web. If you’re going to blast a guide, then at least use valid reasons. Don’t backtrack. You look like a jerk then. Ubuntu is included under Linux but is not the only distro going by that name. Yes, the guide assumes the user is using Ubuntu (marketing is working there..) but it’s reasonably transferable to other distro’s.

    On another note, yes, for a Windows user, or Mac users especially (that’s not meant as a flame comment, it’s just that Windows users include gamers and they’re usually more tech orientated. Skews the data a bit and Mac is built to be simple), the console is indeed an advanced tool. But the other comment was right, you _do_ need to learn to use it. It’s not hard, Linux distro’s are usually pretty good when it comes to console language. Standard, regular, nothing too non-sequitur and it can improve your Linux experience by quite a bit if you know even the basics of using it. Being able to move around, open and close files does wonders for when you can’t figure out where something is stored in a particular distro.

    On a side note, if the OP does make it Ubuntu specific, it’s no longer a guide to Linux, it’s a guide to Ubuntu. And we already have a freaking ton of those.. If you make it generic, it’s useful. If you make it Ubuntu only, you’ve made it into “just anther Ubuntu guide”. At the moment, the guide has a nice intro to the console and is pretty good for Linux, don’t ruin it. Oh, and yea. Mint is more user friendly than Ubuntu. Ubuntu just has the most marketing $$$ behind it. The MSFT of the OSS world really.

    And last note, programs like Synaptic aren’t really all that great. I installed Fedora a while ago, then Ubuntu to try it out and they both sucked. The respository had programs that were quite a few releases behind. Yea, I know, it’s best to have stable programs. But bug fixes, security updates, etc are all missed out when it’s like that. I last used Ubuntu again 2 versions ago and the repository was still a major pain. Much better to give the guide an intro to compiling packages. That isn’t hard either. A few websites have a heap of makefiles stored with the most current programs available. Even that is a lot better than just relying on the repository.

    Last gripe. Promise. =P
    You say that it’s only “hard-core gamers” that Linux isn’t suitable for. It’s actually all gamers. Linux as a whole is improving rapidly, but without decent support for graphics cards, drivers at least, then all gaming is hard on Linux. The old excuse was that companies like nVidia wouldn’t give out the source code to the drivers, it was all closed which was the reason that support was so bad. Again, I haven’t checked them recently, better things to do really. But unless there’s some good reverse engineers going at it, Windows or even Mac is still a better platform over Linux. It’s improving, and should get there soon. Just not quite yet.

    For all that, it’s a great guide. Too much publicity for Ubuntu, they’re strangling other distro’s and they aren’t even the best out there. But apart from that, nice work. Wish I’d had a copy when I tried using Linux. From Windows to Linux is a pretty big step.

  • http://miftosauron.coolpage.biz mifty

    ubuntu IS NOT Linux!!!
    is only a fully advertised shitbag who stoled .deb’s from Debian repositories!!
    that’s all!!!

  • AW

    First off thanks for the guide. I am an intermediate user and always willing to see if there is something I may have missed in my quest to get further into linux. I find the lack of respect for each other on this post to be a bit disconcerting and feel that this may be due to a lack of understanding on all parties. From personal experience, Ubuntu was my first Linux distro and it does a marvelous job of making things simple for new users, while still giving choices. I know it is popular to bash those with big name recognition, but let’s face it, if someone can be intrigued enough to try ubuntu and find that it’s good but not exactly what they want and then move to another distro, isn’t that far better for the community as a whole than having end users intimidated by the mystical world of command line, or by the technical acumen required for some of the more robust and malleable distros out there? If Ubuntu fits the needs of the consumer, then that’s great, if it doesn’t then there are more options out there, that are free and full of communities willing to help, that’s what truly sets us apart from other software families, the choice and ability to easily move and change as we see need.

    Linux may have some drawbacks, doesn’t everything? As said before, gaming isn’t great, but really was it great when Windows first started? It took quite a few years before anyone realized that their was a huge cash cow in computer games for PCs, sure there was casual interest, but can you really imagine today’s teens getting into an ASCII rogue-like? Every year though there are more and more games made to be able to run on Linux environments, and even some made to specifically run on Linux environments.

    I say let’s focus on what we have and keep bringing on new people with more guides like this that can help remove the hurdles that exist mostly in the minds of those who haven’t seen how far the community has come. The next time you hear someone say they don’t think they could do Linux, just smile and ask if they can point and click, when they say yes, you can honestly say they can.