Linux Basics 2: everyday skills
Linux Basics got you in: the terminal, files, permissions, software, users and services. This path is about working comfortably: editing any file without a mouse, doing ten things with one pattern, juggling long-running commands, knowing what your machine is made of, keeping it patched, and understanding the security layer that makes the two families behave differently.
Is this path for you?
You're ready if these sound familiar (each links to the lesson that teaches it):
- Moving around and making, copying and deleting files (Linux Basics, lesson 6, Linux Basics, lesson 8)
- Permissions and sudo (Linux Basics, lesson 10, Linux Basics, lesson 12)
- Installing software with dnf and apt (Linux Basics, lesson 11)
- Services and your first website (Linux Basics, lesson 14)
Finished Linux Basics? Then you're ready. This path fits nicely before Linux Sysadmin, or next to it.
What's ahead
| Lesson | You'll learn to… | The challenge |
|---|---|---|
| Work faster | ||
| lesson 1: text editors | edit in vim (modes, motions, search and replace) and nano, and pick your default editor | Fix a typo-ridden file, reorder a list, move a config to a new domain, all without a mouse |
| lesson 2: wildcards & pipes | match many files with one pattern, and snap commands together | Sort out a photos folder and delete old logs, safely |
| lesson 3: jobs | pause, background and resume long commands | Juggle four jobs and don't lose any |
| Know your system | ||
| lesson 4: hardware | find CPU, memory, disks, devices and model from the command line | Write a one-page report about a server you've never seen |
| lesson 5: archives | pack and unpack zip, tar.gz, tar.xz, and compress single files | A downloads folder with a mystery file and a tarbomb |
| lesson 6: updates | install security fixes, restart what needs it, reboot safely, automate it | Patch Tuesday, including a new kernel |
| Software & security | ||
| lesson 7: other ways to install | use vendor repositories with signing keys, Snap, Flatpak and AppImage | Install four programs four different ways |
| lesson 8: SELinux vs AppArmor | read denials and fix them properly, without switching protection off | "Permission denied" even for root. Find out why, on both families |
How this path works
- Still two families, side by side. Rocky and Ubuntu differ a lot here: which editor you get, what's preinstalled, how updates run by themselves, and SELinux vs AppArmor.
- A real editor in the practice terminal. The vim in the terminal is a small but genuine one: counts,
dd,p,u,., visual mode, search,:%sand:gall work. - Real waiting. In the jobs lesson,
sleep 300really waits five minutes, which is exactly why you'll want Ctrl+Z.
I'm a vim person. It takes a week of feeling slow before it feels fast, and then it's with you on every Linux machine you'll ever touch. Do vimtutor a few times, learn a couple of new commands a week, and don't worry about being quick at first. But use whatever editor gets the job done: nano is a perfectly good choice too.