> I did a few searches in user's archives and came up with the book
> "Beginning Linux Programming.' I read a review and it said it was for
> people who already have programming experience. I have none. I look
> at files and understand very little. I would like to be able to
> understand the phrases in the files. I'm very new to Linux, I have a
> few "how to use linux books" but am looking for something with a
> different slant. I'm sorry if I am being a little vague here but I
> don't have the words. I'm learning commands, I'm learning how to edit
> files but at some point I would like to be able to read files like I
> read books and maybe make a windows manager. What books do I need to
> read? What computer languages do I need to learn? In general if
> someone could point the direction.
Make sure you know what you want first:
Do you want to be a linux programmer, i.e. write programs
that will run under linux? Understand and possibly modify
the linux source code? If so, learn the C programming language first.
You have a long way to go in this case.
Or do you merely want to use linux, be a linux administrator,
be able to use & maintain a linux system without requiring lots of help?
You don't need to be a C programmer for this - you will want some
beginner's books on linux and learn about shell scripts.
(A shell script is a file containing mostly the same kind of commands
you can type on the command line - with some extensions.)
Note that linux comes with a lot of helpful documentation. This is
useful by itself, or when there's something your books don't cover.
If you need information about a command, type "man command"
(i.e. "man df" for info on the "df" command and so on.)
Then there are the HOWTO files, usually installed for you when
linux is installed. To use them, try these commands:
cd /usr/doc/HOWTO (to get to where the HOWTO files are stored)
"ls" or "ls | more" (to see what files are available)
zcat Tips-HOWTO.gz | less (To read the Tips-howto, similiar for the other
files)
I don't think you need to make a new window manager. There are
plenty of them available, and they can usually be configured to
work the way you want. You will need to be a reasonably good programmer
before writing a new manager. Setting up one of the existing ones
is much easier. You will also need to be a good programmer if
you want to understand the linux source. Understanding
the many configuration files are easier though. The most important
ones are covered in books about linux, and many have online
manpages as well. ("man fstab" will provide information enough
to understand the /etc/fstab file, for example.)
Helge Hafting
