I started using Linux back in 1999 and since then, at least one of my computers run Linux as the main OS. At the beginning, Linux was hard because the internet wasn’t what it is today. Installing Linux was especially difficult back then because most people only had one computer.
This made following instructions on one device while installing on the other a luxury few had. Fast forward to 2020 and things have improved. Sadly, many distributions focus mostly on polishing the operating system instead of providing well-documented install instructions.
My eBook D E V I L documents the 5 steps needed for a good start. Every step has a reason and might not be obvious to those who are new to Linux. There are many options to consider and knowing them before installing will save a lot of time and frustration.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Target audience
About the author
Copyright
Part 1: Downloading Linux plus the signature files
Where and what to download
Evaluate the downloaded files before proceeding
Part 2: Installing Linux
Install Linux from a live USB stick
Dual booting Linux and Windows
Part 3: Advanced topics
Removing Windows after installing Linux
Removing Linux and go back to Windows
Supplemental information
Linux has matured and many swear by it. Others warn against using it which is difficult to understand for us who work on Linux systems every day. I am not one to “convert” others to Linux. I never have and never will.
The reason why I dedicated time to writing this book is simply to help and assist new users with the first steps. Linux, once installed is very easy to use and extremely powerful. Let me give you a few quick examples.
Let’s say that I want to watch a YouTube video without the annoying ads. Here’s how it’s done in Linux.
- Open the file browser and navigate to Downloads
- Right-click and select “Terminal”
- Type “youtube-dl followed-by-the-youtube-video-url”
- Press enter
Depending how long the video is, it will begin to download and once it arrives, you just click on the thumbnail to watch it. It’s that simple.
One more. Let’s say that I need a secure password for a gmail account. Here’s what I would do.
- Open the terminal and type pwgen -sync 46 4 and press enter.
With just that one line (bold letters), Linux gives me this:
tjuZR9c55\GfjLhM%3q)9″`OdKkr-Pku[iS”voZHSHUz,L
6~A0QiyR.V/_U~5b(Tw=cRS%@IuoTyZkP3ao|5I857:iqm
<Cd}!)^L$ZK}r#2gRI5K1Ve!?4:C<}Am~hJC+A~W}(&ep?
mnQz=-=mmi%N\dw/Vqck&D#amK3U:DSc/)|Y+^[aH~|y’-
Let me explain.
pwgen is the command to, as you can guess, generate the password.
-sync, in simple terms, is a special combination which makes sure that a mix of characters is being used.
46 specifies that I want a password that is exactly 46 characters long.
4 then tells pwgen to generate four different passwords.
Why 4? Usually, I create multiple passwords and pick the one that looks the most complicated like the 3rd one. Which one would you pick?
Linux is freedom. It always gives you what you ask for. If I want two passwords that are 36 characters long and secure then I just type: pwgen -sync 36 2
That’s it. Linux holds 1000’s of such powerful commands and YouTube has 1000’s of tutorials which teach each one of them in a variety of ways. If you want to try for yourself and have a friend close by to install Linux for you then my eBook will point you in the right direction.
Thank you for reading. Please post if you have questions. Return to the main eBook page
