I'm a long-time Windows user who's about to convert with Linux. I've got a few hours per day to play with Knoppix, and in a few weeks I'm installing Mandrake.

The library here only has a single Linux book ('Programming Linux'). Where do I start? I've got plenty of time to learn.

given that you're already running knoppix, i'd say you've already started -- what's the question?

Sorry, I worded it poorly. I need to find a decent online extensive-training guide, to show me the basics and some of the more advanced areas of Linux use (logging in to a computer in text mode remotely, etc).

the best way to learn is to install linux...
jump in at the deep end

as you come accross questions and problems, come here, and poeple will help you out.

2 years ago i installed redhat linux 9 without having read a single linux article, at first i was asking many simple questions here and getting great answers... and after a few months, i was compiling kernels, prelinking libraries, and building my own linux distro based around the Linux From Scratch book.

Sounds fair enough, I'll try it. Just one crucial question, though: how do I install programs?

My current impression is this: there are specialised packages like RPM for Red Hat, that function like setup.exe in Windows, universal binaries, and source code to compile. I've done a little searching, and I've found no information on "universal binaries". What is the extension for these? Do they actually exist, or have I made a small misreading that's distorted everything I know about it?

Thanks for the help, though.

Thats the way indeed. I was a *hardcore* windows user and one year ago i found my windows too OSX looking, running all kinds of shells and procs to act like linux (i worked with cygwin emulation) and still had to use a bunch of cracked apps (with no respect to programmers). When I started scripting with perl and had to work with unix like enviroments i decided to throw windows away.

I decided 3 months, wipped out windows (xept my NTFS 200G HD ) and now I have an almost 'nice' mandrake 10.1 with minnor problems... running better and faster than any windows version.


PS----> RPMS: are packages that allow easy installation (compiling is not so fool proof). All rpm supporting dostros have command line rpm installation and a supporting GUI setup... It's easy.

I wish more and more ppl migrate to linux, respect commercial programmers work so they wouldn't have to BUY later probably not-so-easy-to-crack windows...


CHEERS!

There are many many many different ways to install programs..
but dont worry, any linux porgram can be installed on any linux distro.

the first, and most basic is to compile it yourself.. this generally works like so..
anouther way is the binary package, like RPM, or DEB or slackware packages. the advantage of binary packages is.. 1) dependency's are automatically calculated, and you are instructed to install missing dependency's if they exist. 2) compiling large programs like firefox web browser can take hours, but only seconds on a pre-compiled binary package

binary packages are installed with installers that come with your distro.

and then there's the Gentoo method.
i believe gentoo is the most advanced linux distro, if you want ot install somthing.. almost ANY linux program (ive not found asingle program that cannot be installed the gentoo way)

where program is the name of the program you want to install... it can be quake, unreal tournament2004, OpenOffice, KDE, ANYTHING.

and gentoo will automatically download the program, and all its dependency's, ocmile, and install them... but the down side is there are very few pre-compiled binary's, everything is compiled,,, which produces a lightning fast distro' but quuite hard to install to start with... Gentoo does not have an install CD like almost every other distro.