From The Blog

Linux Resource Roundup

Posted by JD Thomas on January 25, 2009 in Techfun

Many Linux users love to talk about using Linux and really seem to take pleasure in helping other people solve problems and learn new skills needed...

InfoPostIt’s now been four years since I made the switch from Microsoft Windows OS’s over to Linux.  In the beginning I spent a lot of time using Google and various forums to straighten out problems I encountered.

As an expert Windows OS/Network specialist and Tech Support Guru transitioning to a novice Linux user I had a lot to learn.  While managing a tech support team that focused primarily on Windows systems I had developed a fairly comprensive arsenal of sites and services that I used to troubleshoot problems and locate known issues that affected our customers.

Once I started getting into using Linux I started developing a collection of resources to better understand the OS and to quickly troubleshoot problems and find new fun stuff to mess around with on my own system.  In looking around, I immediately noticed something different about the online Linux community sites geared towards support.

While supporting Microsoft’s Windows based OS’s I found myself relying heavily on corporate support sites like the Microsoft Knowledge Base and similar sites maintained by various hardware and software vendors.  When I started researching solutions to some of the initial problems and issues I experienced as a Linux user I noticed a trend that has only intensified over time.

Many Linux users love to talk about using Linux and really seem to take pleasure in helping other people solve problems and learn new skills needed to get the most out of their Linux based systems.  These two facts have resulted in a vast repository of online resources that range from the simplest tutorials to information on extremely esoteric topics only of interest to system administrators.

This kind of information is also available for Windows users, but the fact that Linux users like to TALK about Linux has created a wealth of searchable text in a way that makes it very easy to use Google to find solutions to problems.

While I have crossed a threshold and no longer find myself looking up how to do things the way I did at the beginning, I still enjoy keeping an eye out for new Linux tips and tricks and new applications that I may want to take for a spin.

One easy way to do that, is to subscribe to the RSS feeds for the sites that you find educational to read.

Here are a few of the ones I like best.  These are all geared towards Ubuntu and/or Debian installs, but there are plenty more out there for other distros as well.

Feel free to suggest more or add some of your own favorites via a comment.

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