TLDR: Any good current guides to learn Linux troubleshooting? Links appreciated.
Hello all completely new user here.
Both in regards to this forum and Linux. I did not commit fully to Linux, dual booting Ubuntu-Mate w/ Windows 10, while I attempt to learn the in's and out's of Linux. Down the road, I'd like to leave Windows behind completely if possible. I've been very comfortable troubleshooting Windows issues for some time now but these skills don't seem to translate over.
While doing things as simple as installing Chrome and accessing my data on other drives has shown itself to be quite simple. I can't for the life of me fix things when they go wrong.
For example, when troubleshooting hardware issues(ethernet port erratic on boot) googling gives me lists of commands to try. Yay commands! Typical forum posts have little information beyond "do this it'll fix 'ya up." So I can monkey see, monkey do, but I would like to learn a little more thoroughly.
Furthermore troubleshooting software(Steam fail) is also escaping me. Although in this category, Google reveals too much information and it appears syntax is different for different distros? Or at least kernel revisions?
The Linux support world appears(at least from the outside) to be very specific answers for people that already have substantial generic knowledge. I can't tell if the info I'm getting is outdated or if it is related but not the specific detail I need.
It is always good to read through the various Linux wikis. The Archwiki is always a great resource, but might be a little to specific on arch from time to time.
I guess you are just a bit lost, because you have to relearn how to troubleshoot, while already having the experience how fast issues can be resolved, if you know what to look for. Give it time and just keep trying. Everything else comes in no time. :)
Don't hesitate to ask specific questions in forums and IRC etc., if you can't draw a connection from your issue to the solution somewhere in the internet.
Regarding your software issues: The concepts / syntax shouldn't be too different for different distros. Most differences come through different packet manager, but all support the same features most of the time.
3 basic principles to simplify things: - Everything in linux is a file, whenever you troubleshoot, tweak or change settings all you do is edit a text file. All drivers, devices and hardware are manipulated through a text file - Actually read what your terminal outputs, it's like a personal assistant - Use 'man', that's the best wiki you can get - most apps come with a man page (i.e. 'man iptables')
Other than that just learn it by using it, breaking it and fixing it - you can't read your way to master it. It all might seem confusing at first but it's not hard, trust me, mere humans created it. Also ask questions, people on these forums do quite well on not only troubleshooting but also explaining why some fix works as it does.
Different syntaxes on different distros? No, different distros have different package managers that's all, so they use different syntaxes only for software management and the like and their own repositories. Everything else works the same. What's the steam error you're having? Run steam from a terminal and, again, check what errors it spits at you. If you can't troubleshoot it maybe start a new thread asking for steam help here and surely someone will help.
Learn systemd (specifically jounralctl for troubleshooting). Man pages are your friend. They will tell you what the switches are for commands and usually how to use them.
Its distro specific because its made supporting Ubuntu in mind, and Ubuntu likes to be different. That said, you should have no issues with steam unless your doing something terribly wrong installing it (or your using Arch)
Im learning as well. As a desktop user not laptop most of the time im good,
Linux is to be blunt a Do-It-Yourself software platform. So you have to be willing to learn and grow your skills on a software platform. Business is all over it cause they can pay people to learn it and it's free. Hence it rules servers world over.
Microsoft and Apple and Android are all becoming more turtle like pulling everything away from you and charging to give you an OS, via the cloud.
Having said that, you have to be willing to learn you need to hone some google skills. 1. Use distro and version in your search. 2. Click search tools and search via the middle time field and try for past year and past month before trying solutions from 2012 as linux changes over time much more than windows. 3. When you find sites that work like the Arch Wiki. Bookmark them ands start there before you google an answer from someone like me at home in my underwear :) Just kidding its winter.
After that if your into youtube channels there are a few that teach a ton of things that make life on linux go from hard to better than windows. I'll list one that has a huge backlog of content.
Yeah, definitely get an Nvidia card. On Linux, all that ATI has ever given me is a headache.
Linux man pages can be hard and very dry to read. A lot of them are written poorly, and honestly, lack good examples. I can recommend you The Linux Command Line (by William Shotts), it's the perfect book for beginners.
Well, I haven't used an AMD card since the HD 6950 days, so I can't argue about how things are at this point in time. In the past though, I've always had issues with multi-monitor support, video playback (tearing, artifacts) and constant tinkering and setup hassles. Gaming performance was also always quite a bit behind, though I've never cared about that aspect very much.
AMD is hit or miss on Linux. That said, if you're not too attached to Mint, you may want to check out Solus. It's a tiny project, but they're doing great things with steam integration and speed improvements.
For me on my R9 380, steam worked out of the box, along with all the games I've tried. The drivers aren't that good, meaning low FPS on intensive games, but hopefully they'll get the proprietary drivers on it soon.
Also, when it comes to learning Linux, I've always subscribed to this ideology: If you need to spend too much time mucking about with operating system, the OS is doing it wrong. Typically, when you use an operating system, it should get out of your way and let you do your work.
That's my main issue with debian based systems. It's always "oh hey, we updated, here's a list of services that don't work anymore, starting with lightdm"
Best method of learning would be to read the man pages for the suggested commands suggested. Usually a linux command boils down to something like. RunSomeProgram pipe result into someOtherProgram. "man someProgram" gives you the documentation for the program, so you can actually see what the program does, along side what the arguments given in the suggested command does. syslogs are also a GREAT source of output from your os to you, e.g. /var/log/syslog and so on Other than studying the functionality, and output, it really does just boil down to experience. Reading a book you loaned in the library may give abit of insight. But Linux is really is as you put it yourself monkey sees, monkey does kind of OS, except there just to much to see, so you really dont know what to look for until a specific case arises. Upside is though the community behind the OS is immensively great and helpful.