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.
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.
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.
That was me for a while, then I decided I was done learning computer. 💩
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 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.
Yes.
Source: Am Systems Admin (engineer/architect/your mom)
Yup
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.
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
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.
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…
Same with arson
See, this is why you Linux users have a bad rep.
/s
What’s the Venn Diagram of “childhood pyromaniacs” and “Linux users” look like?
It’s just 1 circle with both labels in it.
Can confirm. Made many sparkler/aerosol can boom.booms
You ever seen a really bad hemorrhoid?
Ok. Thank you. That’s enough internet for today.
God damn, dude! (☝︎ ՞ਊ ՞)☝︎
I only mean to say that the diagram would be one circle packed tightly inside a slightly larger one.
Hmm. Sounds like the Orange Orangutan fucking up the government: a hemorrhoid inside a hemorrhoid. 😎
Boom! Gottem.
And the less you use Windows, the worse you get at using it. Luckily the bar for Windows competency is pretty low, just basic critical thinking skills and Google get you far.
Honestly, potentially the more you use Windows the worse you get at it. You come to accept the garbage, but the more you try to fix it the more it fights you and the less stable it becomes. A user who just doesn’t touch anything is probably better off.
You can make that point for any operating system, basic critical thinking could mean anything
You could but you’d be drawing a false equivalency.
I got an equivalency for ya
Pb(s)+2 HCl(aq)→PbCl2(s)+H2(g)
basic critical thinking skills
My great-aunt would like a word with you.
/triggered/
Oh hell no. My basic critical thinking applied to googling has got me to a forum with the solution to wi-fi not working in the form of “meh, it happens. reser all network settings and reboot”. Which became my personal turning point of “fuck this shit, I’d rather have actually debuggable software”
/cooled down/
Well, your point read as “look at the problem, search for solutions and you probably will find them” stands, it is the low competency bar that triggered me: to even know where crash logs etc might be on Windows is far beyond even “power user” level
What? It’s easy to find a solution to WiFi problems, come on.
But I use Linux all the time and am still horrible at it!
Fr, GitHub may as well be written in wingdings
Thank Linus for nerds that write proper readmes
You’ll get to the point where you can’t use windows anymore XD
Nah, even a kid can handle Windows. But after becoming a Linux user, I don’t even want to look at Windows, that’s for sure.
A young enough kid can handle just about anything put in front of them at the same rate. When you are learning from zero there isn’t a ton of difference.
I mean early 2000s? Oh windows easier 100%. But today? Both are easy im different ways and to a child just starting out on computer it won’t matter
I had to troubleshoot some windows problems for family a bit back, and it was the worst x3
I’m about at that point. I had to set up a Windows VM last year to do some testing. It was more of a struggle to install than I expected.
I stopped using it regularly several years ago, then I come back to help someone install it and it took me more time than I want to admit to figure out how to make a local account that wasn’t attached to a Microsoft cloud account.
To be fair they make this harder almost by the day.
By design. Soon ms won’t allow you to even have the OS installed, it will only be internet accessible (no internet=no pc usage) so they can steal more data for free.
Joke’s on me, I still have to use windows at work!
Wait, you guys are getting better? /j
im still stuck in vi hell… help… cannot exit program
That’s why you install Emacs and never look back. Everything you need in one program. No need to exit at all.
Have you tried standing up from your computer and going outside? It’s the only 100% reliable way I’ve found to exit vim.
Arson is also good.
I usually shut off the mains.
Dude, just reboot the machine, as long as vi is not autostarting you should be good
I added vi to startup and I can’t modify my startup items because I can’t figure out how to save in vi
I’m sorry, but i can’t save you anymore. I promise to remeber you until my last day on earth
Is this what they call a boot loop?
There’s no exiting vi, gotta buy a new computer
All jokes aside, why do people even bother with vi?
Efficiency :3… if you need to edit text in terminal a lot, getting good with vi/vim can save a decent chunk of time, due to all the keyboard shortcuts it has
And then other people do it cause the pros do and it’s perceived as cool
It’s powerful, lightweight, and ubiquitous. If you do sysadmin work, remote into a random machine, and need to update a config file, it probably has vi installed already. It’s also extensible enough to use as a full IDE.
Personally, I like it because of how fast it feels and because I can do everything while keeping my hands on the home row of the keyboard.
Software developer here.
I only recently switched from vim to VSCode and I refuse to use any editor without vim emulation.
Regular expressions for quick and efficient and precise search and replace, modal editing which allows me to type di" to ‘delete inside current double quotes’ (needs vim-surround plugin), typing 123gg to go to line 123, press % to switch between any pair of marching braces, brackets or parentheses, and all sorts of such efficient goodies.
It’s not only efficient, vi has a whole concept, a philosophy how you can build quick editing commands. It’s not like remembering random shortcuts like Ctrl-C Ctrl-V. Once you understand the language, it becomes second nature and you can translate something you want to do into 5 key strokes which would need 100 otherwise or would involve the mouse and clicking and selecting etc.
I’m not even that good at vim, I’m just using the surface features.
It has very good reasons why every notable editor provides some form of vi editing emulation.
Because especially for very low profile systems its more than enough, so you dont need to use something like vim or nvim.
The only thing i know about vi is how to exit it lol.
Shit, I’m trying to remember from just the memes. Was it something like :q! or am I misremembering it?
Yes,
:q!in normal mode to exit without saving changes.
Absolutely! I never break my system the same way twice.
Real :3
Though actually most of the stuff I had not work on my system was cause of flatpak permissions x3
If you haven’t already, try Flatseal, it’s a gui to deal w/ Flatpak permission (such a PITA).
The last time I broke my system, it was because I removed a folder called /home/monstrosity/home/monstrosity/.
When I deleted the weird duplicate home folder, it broke the entire desktop environment & I had to use the terminal to log in and reinstall. I have no idea which of my numerous ‘fucking around’ sessions caused any of it lol
I’m getting better at finding new ways to break my installation. Now I don’t mess with things and just use it as is. Might start messing with stuff on my laptop rather than PC so I can mess up there instead.
Not me! It’s been too reliable and everything that I need works fine without much effort at all, so I never get any experience troubleshooting or using the command line.
Based linux stability /hj
That’s why sausages are better than Linux: you can start using them on a professional level right from the start. And as a bonus sausages don’t use Nvidia!
…and this was before April…
This timeline is so fucked 😂😂😂
Hopefully we can make progress on the “getting people started” front instead of the “I hate UI and am superior to others” circlejerk
Me when I realize the more I use Termux, the better I get at using Debian
