New Linux User: 10 Things I Wish I Knew When I First Started

Sdílet
Vložit
  • čas přidán 31. 05. 2024
  • Working with Linux servers is a fun and rewarding career. But for those getting started, the learning process can be a bit of a challenge to navigate. In this video, Jay goes over ten things he wish he knew about Linux when he first started. There's definitely potential for more, if you're interested...
    LPI Linux Essentials Course Available
    Check out the new course on Udemy! ➜ learnlinux.link/lpi-course
    ➜ learnlinux.link/lpi-course
    Check out the Linux Shop
    In the official shop, you'll find Shirts, hats, stickers, bags and more!
    ➜ merch.learnlinux.tv
    5% discount on LPI exam vouchers
    After you finish Jay's new course, get 5% off an LPI exam voucher here:
    ➜ learnlinux.link/lpi-voucher
    Become a Patron
    Show your support for Learn Linux TV on Patreon and get access to exclusive perks!
    ➜ learnlinux.link/patron
    Become a Channel Member
    Show your support for Learn Linux TV here on CZcams and get access to exclusive perks!
    ➜ learnlinux.link/member
    Mastering Ubuntu Server: 4th Edition
    Jay's latest book covers everything you need to know in order to master Ubuntu Server. It's available here:
    ➜ ubuntuserverbook.com
    Linux Gear and Kits
    Check out Jay's choice of hardware products, audio/video equipment, and more.
    ➜ learnlinux.link/amazon
    Grab an awesome Pi-powered KVM
    Support Learn Linux TV and grab yourself a TinyPilot KVM here:
    ➜ learnlinux.link/tinypilot
    Note: Royalties and/or commission is earned from each of the above links
    *Time Codes*:
    00:00 - Intro
    00:47 - Number 1: Unused RAM is Wasted RAM
    03:03 - Number 2: High CPU usage is often a good thing
    04:22 - Number 3: inodes (and how that impacts available storage space)
    06:51 - Number 4: The large number of Linux distributions is a GOOD thing
    09:05 - Number 5: Set up LVM on every server
    11:08 - Number 6: Nobody memorizes all the commands and options
    14:52 - Number 7: Always have a backup distribution
    17:31 - Number 8: Version control (Git, etc) isn't only useful for software engineers
    19:08 - Number 9: LVM snapshots exist
    20:20 - Number 10: Ensure backup jobs reference ALL disks, even those that were newly added
    Full Courses from Learn Linux TV
    • Linux Crash Course series ➜ linux.video/cc
    • Learn how to exit use tmux ➜ linux.video/tmux
    • Learn how to use vim ➜ linux.video/vim
    • Bash Scripting Series ➜ linux.video/bash
    • Proxmox VE Cluster Full Course ➜ linux.video/pve
    • Learn Ansible ➜ linux.video/ansible
    Linux-related Podcasts
    • Enterprise Linux Security ➜ enterpriselinuxsecurity.show
    • The Homelab Show ➜ thehomelab.show
    Official *Learn Linux TV on the Web*
    • Main site ➜ www.learnlinux.tv
    • Community ➜ community.learnlinux.tv
    Content Ethics
    • The following article covers the rules and guidelines Learn Linux TV abides by ➜ www.learnlinux.tv/content-ethics
    Disclaimer
    LearnLinuxTV produces technical content that will hopefully be helpful to you and teach you something new. However, this content is provided without any warranty (expressed or implied). LearnLinuxTV is not responsible for any damages that may arise from any use of the content and information that's being provided. The viewer is expected to follow best judgement and to make his/her/their best decisions while working with production or non-production software, systems and hardware.
    #Linux #Devops #cloudcomputing
  • Věda a technologie

Komentáře • 526

  • @FlamingCockatiel
    @FlamingCockatiel Před 7 měsíci +161

    1. Unused RAM is wasted RAM.
    2. Sometimes high CPU usage is a good thing.
    3. Inodes need to be tracked, as well as available space. df -i command is importatnt.
    4. Large number of distros is good thing, a superpower. It allows you to change up the user interface.
    5. Use LVM (logical volume manager) to get more control over your storage, treating multiple things as one. You can resize file systems online.
    6. You don't have to memorize Linux commands. Memorize everyday ones; it's okay to look up lesser-used ones.
    7. Always have a backup distro.
    8. GIT version control is not just for software developers but also for system administration.
    9. LVM has a snapshot feature, useful for trying new things.
    10. Especially for cloud servers, take all individual volumes when backing up data.

    • @jankowalsky9473
      @jankowalsky9473 Před 2 měsíci +5

      Good notes :)

    • @MrShompal
      @MrShompal Před 9 dny

      Video sounds like an AI hallucination

    • @RenderingUser
      @RenderingUser Před 5 dny +1

      Point 1 applies only if you have high enough ram to begin with. You'd need a decently high amount of ram if your workflow involves sometimes using lightweight apps and occasionally running multiple heavy programs at the same time. No unused memory is really wasted. You're just being prepared for when you do need it.

    • @sam3317
      @sam3317 Před 4 dny +1

      tab completion and bash history were the things that I wish I'd known about from day 1.

  • @kjakobsen
    @kjakobsen Před rokem +395

    For years i was obsessing about have "free memory". And getting mad, that my operating system, "ate" all my memory. Untill someone, asked me why i wanted a slow inefficient computer.

    • @piked86
      @piked86 Před rokem +30

      Why wouldn't you use what you paid for? Only worry when there is little left or it's frequently close to full.

    • @scheimong
      @scheimong Před rokem +53

      "Unused memory is wasted memory."
      This is the most concise explanation I've heard of this concept.

    • @lliamthrumble
      @lliamthrumble Před rokem +14

      The only real thing that needs to have a free excess is hard disk space. Everything else only needs to have a buffer of free. Its not about how much you have free, its about how fast that ram can do its job. That's all.

    • @CTimmerman
      @CTimmerman Před rokem +3

      @@scheimong Is your swap file the size of your free space yet? Virtual memory matters!

    • @CTimmerman
      @CTimmerman Před rokem

      @@lliamthrumble Chrome gets really slow when the OS starts to swap, so i built an OOM killer to save my SSD and other programs' data.

  • @jpwillm5252
    @jpwillm5252 Před rokem +57

    Around 2002, when I was fed up with the repeated crashes of my system, I went to ask three questions on the usenet forum:
    - "As a non-IT person, do you think I can install and configure a GNU/Linux system?
    - Am I obliged to know by heart a myriad of magic formulas?
    - Will these orders still be valid in a few years?
    The old wolves reassured me, and told me that if I got into the habit of reading the manuals and getting information before doing any manipulations, things would fall into place quite naturally.
    Moreover, the commands that I will have to use will be the same in ten years.
    They were right, and I just jotted down some "cooking recipes". 8-)

    • @javabeanz8549
      @javabeanz8549 Před rokem +2

      In my experience, most GNU utilities tend to keep the options the same over the course of time, just adding new ones. But, if you jump over to BSD the utilities may have the same name, but different options, and sometimes the GNU has things BSD doesn't. I encountered such issues with the "whois" commands, so I had to tweak how I automated checking for expiration dates and name servers when jumping between the two.

    • @jpwillm5252
      @jpwillm5252 Před rokem +1

      @@javabeanz8549
      Rigor seems to be in order at GNU.
      Thank you for this information about BSD that I personally don't know well.

    • @illegalsmirf
      @illegalsmirf Před rokem +4

      Fast forward ten years and you have systemd with totally new commands and concepts, plus a lot of other replacements (ip address show instead of ifconfig for example).

    • @jpwillm5252
      @jpwillm5252 Před rokem

      @@illegalsmirf That's right.
      Luckily we still have distros without this ugly thing.

    • @javabeanz8549
      @javabeanz8549 Před rokem +2

      @@illegalsmirf very true, I didn't say that we don't get new software. Like getting a list of open sockets, we now have ss -tpln to see what daemons are listening on which TCP ports. I have also moved from ipchains, to iptables years ago, and I think that we have moved on from there. But I don't manage several firewalls for ISPs anymore, so a bit out of the loop there.

  • @RenderingUser
    @RenderingUser Před 5 dny +2

    Point 1 applies only if you have high enough ram to begin with. You'd need a decently high amount of ram if your workflow involves sometimes using lightweight apps and occasionally running multiple heavy programs at the same time. No unused memory is really wasted. You're just being prepared for when you do need it

  • @Chalisque
    @Chalisque Před rokem +25

    To explain the multitude of distros, I like to use a car analogy. There is one brand of engine, Linux, and a bunch of related models (aka versions). Then there are a couple of popular brands of chassis (Debian and Redhat) and a few other less common ones (Arch, Suse). On these chassis, companies then add the controls (gear stick, steering wheel, pedals) and interface, generally using off-the-shelf families of controls (KDE, Gnome, XFCE), and then add the body and styling and such. So all the cars have the same engine, and there is a small number of choices of chassis, and then each distro adds its own customisations on top of that engine and chassis. Ultimately, like driving a car, once you are comfortable with changing gear and steering, you can easily move from one car to another and only have to re-learn stuff like how to use the radio. Some cars will go fast; some will let you carry more cargo; there are vans and go-carts, and such. By comparison, Apple is like a Rolls Royce that makes three brands of cars, using entirely in-house engines, chassis, and so on, and with a policy that if the electric windows stop working, the solution is to buy a whole new car.

    • @katanah3195
      @katanah3195 Před 11 hodinami

      I've heard OSs compared to cars and the makers compared to dealerships before... the analogy I heard involves a busy street intersection. At the corners, there are two dealerships, and also a large paved lot full of various groups of people in tents and makeshift sheds working on tanks. One of the dealerships sells sleek, modern, sports cars. They're difficult to maintain and almost impossible to fix yourself, and overpriced... but they look fancy and slick, and owning one is a status symbol. If it breaks you can bring it to the dealership for servicing, but most likely they'll tell you to buy a new one, or a repair will cost more than a replacement. The other dealership sells family sedans. They're cheaper, but also less slick and stylish. They're technically easier to service and somewhat less tightly integrated and hermetically sealed up, but nobody who buys one tries to service it, beyond maybe a new paint job or an aftermarket horn. They break down, you take it to the dealership and pay the dealership to fix it.
      The guys across the street, are teams of volunteers. They make tanks. The tanks are sometimes uglier than a standard car, and can be far more confusing if you pop the hood, and the controls aren't always as simple as the dealership sedans or slick sports cars. But they're insanely safe, extremely smooth and fast on the road, and if you know what you're doing, far more accessible to tinker with. They come with extensive manuals and documentation. And the volunteers will literally give them away to you for free. If something breaks - they will give you the manual and tools to fix it if you broke it, or come and repair it for you if they broke it. These people do this because they wanted the tanks, and believe that something of this nature should be made available to anyone who wants to use it, for free and with the blueprints available openly for anyone to build their own or modify the blueprints.
      Multiple times a day, someone will come to this street corner with a broken or out of date sports car or sedan, or looking to buy their first car. The volunteers will tell them all about the tanks, and try to get them to take one. They'll protest they don't know how to maintain a tank. When told they don't know how to maintain a sedan or a sports car either, they'll say "But I can bring it to the dealership and pay them to fix it when it breaks." The tank people explain that they will fix it when it's their fault, will never charge you again for the newest model, and if you break it they will give you the tools and documentation to fix it, for free. The car shopper will still go into one of the dealerships and buy their overpriced product, because the tanks sound overwhelming. (On the other side of the spectrum, nowadays, a parent will pull up to the tank people in their well maintained tank, their young child in tow, seeking to pick out a good tank for their child to learn to drive in.) Once or twice every so often, someone who didn't come looking for the tanks will actually take a tank. Most of them return it in frustration and buy an overpriced new sedan.

  • @shawnlewis389
    @shawnlewis389 Před rokem +228

    Thanks for being transparent about not having to memorize commands. You just lifted a huge load off of me brother. I have definitely built my own cheat sheet. Which is very helpful. As always, I love your content. Keep up the good work.

    • @phrtao
      @phrtao Před rokem +19

      The real skill you need is to be able to refresh your memory quickly. So you can look up what you need and understand what you are reading. Only the real world tests this - it applies to every aspect of computing and most other things as well.

    • @anthonyfmoss
      @anthonyfmoss Před rokem

      And me!

    • @kencreten7308
      @kencreten7308 Před rokem

      I have no reason to think you should have to memorize a bunch of commands. I'm interested in why you might feel it necessary?

    • @chaslinux
      @chaslinux Před rokem +4

      I now remember cut because I've used it a few times in BASH scripts, but I don't really remember awk and sed, so I just consult some scripts I've used them in. I throw those scripts up on github and consult them when I need to remember what I did before. Also tab is a real blessing trying to remember or discover commands.

    • @lawrencedoliveiro9104
      @lawrencedoliveiro9104 Před rokem +6

      After you’ve used certain commands and options a few dozen or hundred times, you do automatically memorize them. For the rest, there’s man (among other sources). This is why I’ve started writing man pages for some of my own programs.
      Nitpick: grammatically, it should be “I wish I had known”, not “I wish I knew”.

  • @theeddorian
    @theeddorian Před 7 měsíci +46

    The biggest handicap I experienced with Linux, which is what I have used for years as my primary OS, was a an absence of well documented applications. That has greatly eased over the last 20 years or so, and generally anything you can do using a Windows (or Mac?) system can be done on a Linux system.

    • @JJFlores197
      @JJFlores197 Před 6 měsíci +6

      More or less, yes. There's always the learning curve, though depending on the person. A lot of people can pickup Linux pretty quick and others will struggle a lot.

    • @natbarmore
      @natbarmore Před 4 dny

      Most things, yes. The difference is more often “how easily” or “how quickly”, rather than “at all”.
      Frex, I just found out that there’s something very much like Time Machine for Linux that’s been around for a while, but it’s nowhere near as easy to set up or use.
      And sometimes the deficit in UX is a dealbreaker-for some software, the UX is as much or more important than the functionality.
      For me, the main software I’m not willing to give up in order to use Linux is Scrivener. Several open-source and commercial imitators now exist for macOS, MSWindows, and Linux , and some people find some of them just as good as Scrivener. I don’t. There’s other software that I’d have trouble replacing (BBEdit, InDesign, 1Password, Things, frex), but I either already know of Linux alternatives that are “good enough”, or they’re more “what I’m used to” than “what I love”, so I’m sure I could adapt to new software and new workflows.

    • @vivsavagex
      @vivsavagex Před 3 dny

      not really true. audio production does not have a workflow on linux that isn't a huge pain in the ass. and most plugins are not supported. its unfortunately the reason why i can never use it as daily driver. also, no photoshop isnt quite a deal breaker but its close. there are plenty of examples of this where you can technically do the same thing but you are forced to using a greatly inferior (much of the time) app to do the job. the fact is that even here in 2024, no one uses linux as their daily driver because its good but because they just hate windows and apple too much to stomach using them anymore.

    • @theeddorian
      @theeddorian Před 3 dny

      @@vivsavagex There is an immense difference between can't be done, and "I don't like the work," which is your position. Many computer users confuse having to learn an interface with "difficulty." There are many entries these days on audio production on Linux. Many even recommend Linux as a platform. That said, the first time I ever met someone who did his own processing, he was a black jazz musician who used Linux. I still have a CD of his.

  • @lawrencedoliveiro9104
    @lawrencedoliveiro9104 Před rokem +30

    1:47 The key thing to identify this situation (in the “top” display, or output from the “free” command) is to look at “available” RAM, not “free” RAM. The former includes cache usage, the latter doesn’t. So don’t worry if the latter is small, so long as the former still shows some useful amount.

  • @AniaKovas
    @AniaKovas Před 11 měsíci +5

    Yeah, gonna be directing my students to you. Your calm explanations are sound. Heck, I learn things and I've been around the block a few times. Thanks for putting these out.

  • @bobanderson1727
    @bobanderson1727 Před 8 měsíci +2

    Great video, Jay. I'm always learning things from you. It seems that you have an endless supply of Linux knowledge to share. That's OK, though; 'cause I have a pretty healthy appetite for learning those kinds of things.
    Thanks for all of your videos and books. They've been a great help to me. From the Linux Mint Essentials book that got me started with Linux (back in the day); to the Mastering Ubuntu Server books of recent times...
    What a long "road" we've traveled since the CP/M days.
    ...and you've helped to make the trip a great experience for me.
    Thanks bunches, Jay.

  • @rickcontreras4943
    @rickcontreras4943 Před rokem +10

    Jay, I think you’re a great teacher and I learned so much from you. Thank you for being on the channel.

    • @amj.composer
      @amj.composer Před 6 měsíci

      This is one of the worst channels ever. He rambles too much without saying anything of substance. There are far better channels out there

  • @PoeLemic
    @PoeLemic Před rokem +5

    Hell yes. This was a great video. I wish you'd cover a lot of things you didn't know at the first. Maybe, organize them according to complexity (or career-period) versus just random topics.

  • @msmodaafrique7513
    @msmodaafrique7513 Před 6 měsíci +1

    Awesome content! Thanks so much for always delivering!

  • @ozmosyd
    @ozmosyd Před rokem

    Thank you. I have picked up some more sys admin tips and for me today was the 'tippet' on disk space. I appreciate your work muchly.

  • @geoptus
    @geoptus Před rokem +3

    Thanks very much Jay, this was very useful advice. I'm particularly interested in the LVM implementation - will definitely be checking out your content for that. 👍

  • @jfitzpatrick6108
    @jfitzpatrick6108 Před 4 měsíci

    Great talk!
    Glad I listened.
    Thank you for sharing
    your learning curve.

  • @pixelpusher8986
    @pixelpusher8986 Před 2 měsíci

    Whew!! I’m so glad to know I’m not the only Linux noob using man pages. I learned a few things reading the man ls pages the other day. So much more than I realised. Great video. I’m going get that book too.

  • @ibrahimabdeltawab6418

    So helpful! Thanks so much, and I’d like to mention your light and color, it’s awesome 👏

  • @gregorymccoy6797
    @gregorymccoy6797 Před rokem +2

    Far more informative than I thought this would be. Great tips.

  • @MichaelCook-oo8lj
    @MichaelCook-oo8lj Před 6 měsíci +15

    8:28 The point about using a different distro if you don't like the user interface - I would take this one step further and point out that for the most part you can install pretty much any desktop environment or window manager on any distribution. You don't have to even switch distros. Ubuntu is famous for it's unique spin on Gnome, but you can easily rip that out and replace it with anything you want. Or, you can install several desktop environments and switch between them as your mood dictates without any real issues.

    • @paultapping9510
      @paultapping9510 Před 6 měsíci +1

      I was just thinking about this the other night, while trying to sum up why I like Linux to a friend. The extensibility is actually insane when you think about it too much. You can do everything up to and including compiling a custom kernel. Literally every aspect of the way your machine behaves, looks, acts, and reacts is up for modification. But even before that you have desktop environment/window manager choice and extensibility, and before that you have the, by Windows standards, already insane levels of customisation that the vanilla install of something like plasma or gnome offer.
      People in Linuxland get mad about sysD, people in windowsLand get served ads on their desktop and have to just like it.

  • @keltyll
    @keltyll Před rokem

    Thank you, learning so much , can't wait for part 2.

  • @eldiabloramon
    @eldiabloramon Před 9 měsíci +18

    NOTE: if you are running Oracle Unbreakable Linux - it gobbles up ALL the memory by default to alocate it to ASM controllers and Oracle Databases 😊
    FYI: for linux commands, working in an Enterprise PROD / TEST / DEV env, i write templates of my most used commands, that i can edit and paste into the bash shell. That makes it WAY easier then trying to remember evry little thing. Also the “history” command is your friend, and locate. 😊

  • @LuisGalindo0
    @LuisGalindo0 Před 6 měsíci +4

    I would love a series of videos like these. Tips for current Sys Admins that are still learning.

  • @kencreten7308
    @kencreten7308 Před rokem +1

    i agree with Shawn Lewis below after hearing what you said about commands. I've always felt exactly as you do, but didn't think about this idea of certification tests demanding knowledge of commands mostly likely soon to be forgotten post exam. I totally agree that we have documentation at hand, and quickly on the Net, for all Linux commands. And the one's that we use often are the ones we naturally memorize.

  • @Thomas_Grusz
    @Thomas_Grusz Před rokem +1

    Thanks, that was helpful, I'd be interested in part II.

  • @kipsangjacob270
    @kipsangjacob270 Před rokem

    Thanks, Jay for the advice!! the inodes was relatable

  • @nicedev8189
    @nicedev8189 Před rokem

    Every video from you worth tons thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience, I have learn so much from you!

  • @moogleworks501
    @moogleworks501 Před 9 měsíci

    Incredible info. Thanks for sharing!

  • @javabeanz8549
    @javabeanz8549 Před rokem +4

    I ran into the inode issue a very long time ago, also on a mail server, however, it wasn't the messages themselves, it was a file system based grey listing solution I was using to help with spam. The answer then was to dedicate another drive to that solution, but to make the clusters very small, so very many inodes.
    As to LLVM, I avoided it on physical servers, because of the physical backup and recovery of a failing drive was much harder with LLVM in the mix. I see it as a great plus in a virtual server system.

  • @eh597
    @eh597 Před rokem +19

    This video made me feel much better in regard to memorizing all the commands. I took the Red Hat course through my school and was overwhelmed with all the commands. Thanks.

    • @DrKellieOwczarczak
      @DrKellieOwczarczak Před rokem +1

      Yeah, that is something that took me a while to get comfortable with as well. I learned very early on to be very specific in my comments in my code, etc. because, next week, next month, or next year, I might need to do that same exact thing, but I will not remember it. If I wanted to memorize stuff, I guess, I could have been a Lawyer. LOL!

    • @sotecluxan4221
      @sotecluxan4221 Před rokem

      As I love it, to add the costs of the items in my cart, having the exact amount in my hand, when approaching cashier, see his smile cause it went so quickly, so I like to write cmd because stuff is quickly done. To memorize ~30cmds should be no problem for average pple.

    • @nieczerwony
      @nieczerwony Před rokem +4

      ​@@DrKellieOwczarczak This is exactly me as software engineer. I always add comments and detailed docs to my projects (especially APIs). I do other stuff like flowcharts, system schemas etc. I always write test for my code and have backups for all of these.
      I even created myself a tool (as a project) that keeps details with tags, topics and description, which I can pull if needed.
      Also in most cases I prefer code readability than length or syntax, and that helps a lot.
      In that way I am not stressed and worried about my work.

  • @effdpaul1815
    @effdpaul1815 Před rokem +9

    I use flash cards for Linux Commands & specialty terminology. I wanted to remember ... to memorize certain things because they were new to me when I first learned them, and I planned on using that info regularly. For me, repetition was the most effective memory tool for Linux.

  • @KSGleyzer
    @KSGleyzer Před 2 měsíci

    Thank you for your videos! Very interesting and helpful 👍

  • @thenathanhaines
    @thenathanhaines Před rokem +1

    This was another great video! Interesting things you'd learned, practical uses for familiar tools, and an honest look at how much you need to "know" to run a server. Since 1994, the `apropos` command has been a stalwart friend!

  • @moshiachhasawakened6781

    That was extremly helpful if not brilliant! Thank you

  • @enigmatic.machine
    @enigmatic.machine Před 6 dny

    I've seen in practice that using LVM in a cloud environment is not the best solution. LVM carries the inherent risk of data inconsistency, especially during restoration. For example, we had a case involving 14 hard drives. The restoration process was complicated due to issues in correctly mapping the drives.
    Consider using cloud provider’s native snapshot and backup tools instead. These tools are designed to handle such complexities and provide seamless volume management and restore capabilities.

  • @lawrencedoliveiro9104
    @lawrencedoliveiro9104 Před rokem +3

    2:27 Yes, it most certainly is true. Remember, userland apps like GNOME are not responsible for managing filesystem cache--that is done by the kernel. So any RAM the apps are using is actual regular application RAM, and if they are using a lot more than other comparable apps, then yes, that counts as “bloat”.

  • @effdpaul1815
    @effdpaul1815 Před rokem +1

    Thanks so much for your Linux Instructional Videos: When I first jumped into Linux 15 years ago, as an alternative to Windows, I just wanted to be a user ... not a script writer, analyst, or administrator. I soon found out that to be a Linux User, is to wear all of those hats. The ability to self-educate was difficult for me as the availability of quality instructional material was difficult to find ... at least at first. I do have a friend who is an experienced Linux Administrator and that has helped over the years ... especially with the catastrophes that can happen. I am glad I found your channel ... it's been a good source of quality information. I still have a long journey ahead. Thanks once again.

    • @PoeLemic
      @PoeLemic Před rokem

      Yes, you are not the only one. I'm moving away from WIndows, because I think LInux is more the future. So, I'm trying to educate myself too. And, it feels like a long road too.

  • @CyberCommercialBroadcasting

    Thanks a lot Jay, learnt some newer things from this tutorial.

  • @Aura_Mancer
    @Aura_Mancer Před 9 dny

    So true about certifications. I mean, exams in general in education. They expect you to memorise things as if you couldn't look it up with some research, even before the internet, you could just go to the library.

  • @Felix-ve9hs
    @Felix-ve9hs Před rokem +16

    6:51 the large amount of Linux distros is what made me shift to FreeBSD as my main server OS, the insane number of choices just paralysed me

    • @tenfourproductionsllc
      @tenfourproductionsllc Před rokem

      The main disadvantage of having 100s of distros is that it makes extremely difficult for a 3rd party vendor to supply support for their products. Imagine having to teach your support team Ubuntu, Fedora, OpenSuse, Arch and then all it's dozens of variants. It's insane. The one thing google has done with linux is take it out of open source and streamline it into ONE OS period.

  • @LinXnerd
    @LinXnerd Před rokem +9

    Yes, that's info that I can definitely use. Now I will use git and LVM in ways that I didn't realize. I see them all of the time and thought that only admins and devs needed them. I had forgotten about inodes because I haven't had problems with those for years. But it's a good idea to know how to fix the problem in case it ever comes about. I think that it happened to me a long time ago but I thought that the distribution was buggy. 😏

  • @shitinsideyou
    @shitinsideyou Před rokem

    Great video Jay, thank you!

  • @florke64
    @florke64 Před rokem +1

    Very informative. Thank you

  • @Trozpent
    @Trozpent Před měsícem

    I think it's such an important point that even the most experienced people do not memorise everything, and thank you for saying it because I think it's often a scary thing for us newer and less experienced people often worry about. It's something I learnt with Photography that even the best photogs do not turn up take one shot and it's perfect. they take thousands of pictures to find their best shot to show the world. I've been watching lots of the "into the terminal" series form Red Hat recently and it's so great seeing one of their most experience people there even makes mistakes and forgets things. It's just down to what you use on a daily basis is different from the next person.
    I'd love to learn more about your career, how you transitioned and what you do now. I think it would also be really great to learn what you use for your note taking. Obsidian is such a widely discussed tool these days. I've taken a look at Logseq which looks really interesting but I cannot wrap my head around how to use it effectively and always find myself comparing it to Obsidian which I probably shouldn't.
    Do you host things like your notes or do you keep them local on your computer?

  • @giganticyufka
    @giganticyufka Před 7 měsíci

    This is really useful advices. Thanks!

  • @jesse7631
    @jesse7631 Před rokem +2

    Great video Jay, as always! I have never really understood the fixation some Linux distro reviewers have with looking at how much RAM the system is using after first boot, or what it's using during normal operations. I'm like, what is this, 1998?

  • @lawrencedoliveiro9104
    @lawrencedoliveiro9104 Před rokem +13

    4:56 It would be easier just to say that inodes limit the maximum _number_ of files you can create on the volume, regardless of the space they occupy. So if you run out of inodes, you cannot create any new files (or directories), you can only extend existing ones.

    • @CTimmerman
      @CTimmerman Před rokem +1

      How soon would a 1TB drive with Etx4 run out of inodes?

    • @openevents
      @openevents Před 11 měsíci +1

      @@CTimmerman Depends on the config, you can specify a number of inodes per X MB's .... but using XFS they are created dynamically, so you never run out.

    • @CTimmerman
      @CTimmerman Před 10 měsíci +1

      @@openevents Is XFS better than ZFS? A redundant storage pool of random old drives sounds useful.

  • @ivandelevic
    @ivandelevic Před rokem +4

    Very,very useful for beginners! Respect for video! Thanks 🙏👍

  • @ThePenguinJunkie
    @ThePenguinJunkie Před rokem

    Thank you for making this video. It was very informative and gave quite a bit to think about.
    -Bryan

  • @Chalisque
    @Chalisque Před rokem +1

    The TL;DR on inodes is that a directory entry (when you see a file in your file manager, or when running ls, what you're really seeing is a directory entry) points to an inode. An inode then tells Linux where the file's data is on the disk. The number of inodes is (I think) set when you create the filesystem. Each file or directory requires an inode. So no available inodes means you can't create a new file, only allocate more free space to existing files.
    A nice thing about inodes, and actually something you get with NTFS (and I think it only got put there because MS wanted to have a minimal Posix subsystem in Windows NT so that they could get government contracts) is that you can have multiple directory entries pointing to the same file (hard links). This means you can efficiently create a clone of a directory hierarchy, which I tend to do before doing any destructive power renaming (e.g. applying a naming scheme to a bunch of media files) in case my Python script has an error which messes things up. With NTFS, hard links are hard to make unless you're running cygwin or git-bash.

  • @MohMoh-mw9ml
    @MohMoh-mw9ml Před 10 měsíci

    thank you, very helpful and encouraging.

  • @robertwest7633
    @robertwest7633 Před 6 měsíci +2

    I've been in Linux System Operations for about a dozen years but have been using Linux since 2.2. This is a well done list. I think the only thing I'd add to really introductory material like this is this: du and df. They might (probably will) report different usages. This can be frustrating when tracking down a "disk full" issue. This, really, is far more common than the exhausted inodes issue.
    If a file is deleted (but still actually open by a process), df will report that space as still used, while du will not. If this deleted file is very large, the difference could be huge.
    lsof (list open files) will help you track down the culprit in this case. Often this is caused by a log rotation that does not restart the application doing the logging.

  • @gomex1996
    @gomex1996 Před rokem

    Pretty nice,thank you very much,it was helpful!!!

  • @maurolimaok
    @maurolimaok Před rokem +7

    Number 7: It seems, due to the path Ubuntu is going, Vanilla OS and Pop OS will derivate themselves directly from Debian, no more from Ubuntu. Things are changing.

  • @mehdizeynalov1062
    @mehdizeynalov1062 Před 2 měsíci

    super video thank you --- nice setup...

  • @SweetHoneycode
    @SweetHoneycode Před rokem +7

    I had what I called the big 2 when I started in 2004 - Ubuntu, Fedora and Opensuse. These were what I used either as a primary driver or my backup. Lately I now use Linux Mint. I've learned to use a Home partition to make this easier.

    • @szr8
      @szr8 Před rokem +3

      Did you mean to say "Debian" when you said "Ubuntu" ? I ask because the latter didn't exist yet.

    • @benygh911
      @benygh911 Před 10 měsíci +1

      @@szr8 TRUE...✌👍

    • @jpcoll2011
      @jpcoll2011 Před 8 měsíci +3

      Ubuntu came out in October 2004.

    • @jpcoll2011
      @jpcoll2011 Před 8 měsíci

      ​@@szr8Ubuntu came out in October 2004 and I started to use it in early 2005

  • @dragonsage6909
    @dragonsage6909 Před rokem

    Great insights, thanks!

  • @dljohnsonmusic
    @dljohnsonmusic Před rokem

    Really good video and insight

  • @V0KIAL
    @V0KIAL Před rokem +1

    We are lucky to have such an amazing teacher. Great channel, really

  • @somecallmetimelderberries432

    Very helpful, thanks!

  • @user-di4bt7qu2i
    @user-di4bt7qu2i Před rokem

    Great info! Yes, please make a follow-up to this video.

  • @toromac9786
    @toromac9786 Před rokem

    the Git idea for version controlling config files is genius, so obvious now you mention it.

  • @uknowme1811
    @uknowme1811 Před 3 měsíci

    Could'nt agree with you more Jay about Cert exams. They should focus more on teaching you to be more "Resourceful". A much more important skill to have then a great memory. Your channel is fantasic!

  • @ewoukemngnia2568
    @ewoukemngnia2568 Před 3 měsíci

    thanks very much, good content and advice that will be of great help to me !!!

  • @godrugal1
    @godrugal1 Před 10 měsíci

    many thanks for this very informative video

  • @madmadmal
    @madmadmal Před rokem +1

    LVM is not a backup solution but many think so because it can include a “cloud” service. Data exists only where it located. In other words if the data in any one place, like an LVM cloud space there is no backup. Unless there a considered plan to make data replicated in more than one place it can be lost. Usually data should exist in three places, the original, a live backup, and an offline backup (one offsite and dead to changes, think of a place that is kept in a safety deposit box.

  • @eliasperez5168
    @eliasperez5168 Před 3 měsíci

    I just came across your channel I love this thank you so much

  • @Crackalacking_Z
    @Crackalacking_Z Před rokem

    You are so right about certifications, there are way better ways to test if a person actually understands what they're doing.

  • @WeirdDuck781
    @WeirdDuck781 Před 4 měsíci +2

    Dont forget that you dont have to change distros if you want a specific desktop environment. More often than not you have plenty of tutorials on how to swap DE without remaking your whole system or learning the ins and outs of another distro.
    Distro is more of an idea of an amalgamation of what a gnu/linux system should look and work like as the foundation. I might be wrong but the distro selection usually revolves around what package manager it uses... While newcommers are usually just looking into the looks and popularity (which isnt wrong at all).
    I use arch (btw) because i didnt mind the rolling releases (tbh you can kind of opt out of this ) and the fact that it comes out of the box with basically just the kernel, bootloader and package manager, from there i just pick my "goey" and some apps. You like apt-get more but you wanna use a specific distro that uses something else? Noone is stopping you and its usually not that painful to swap package managers

  • @aynurshauerman
    @aynurshauerman Před 5 měsíci

    Your channel is brilliant! Thank you for sharing your knowledges around the world! Hello from Russia!

  • @hamzaal-laham9863
    @hamzaal-laham9863 Před rokem

    Very useful video, thanks

  • @Janemayank
    @Janemayank Před rokem

    Good one. Very Useful.

  • @joef6398
    @joef6398 Před měsícem

    And LVM can do raid , check the doc on how and what kinds of raid . A great way to learn Linux is to read the man pages , as many as you can stand . LVM has great man pages . Also name LVM name conflicts with LLVM which is Low Level Virtual Machine , so some distros are naming LVM , LVM2 now which stands for version 2 but also gives it more of it's own name , since LVM conflicts with Level Virtual Machine.

  • @jetskisnowboardski
    @jetskisnowboardski Před rokem

    I thought.. ”yeah I know all this..” then you spoke about LVM. Wow. Thanks!

  • @akshayjadhav7227
    @akshayjadhav7227 Před 10 měsíci

    Really great video!

  • @MatthewCrawford
    @MatthewCrawford Před 8 měsíci

    As a software engineer, I agree that any resources not in use are being wasted...
    In general a very informative list, thank you :)

  • @shadynit
    @shadynit Před rokem

    Thanks for teaching us, good to know those things. I really appreciate you. By the way, the T-shirt is so cool, where can I purchase this one?

  • @13thravenpurple94
    @13thravenpurple94 Před rokem +3

    regarding commands, installing 'tldr' is a massive help

    • @voodooyam
      @voodooyam Před rokem +1

      and dont forget the info command, and curling cheat.sh!

  • @ionluv
    @ionluv Před rokem

    Great tips. Thank you.

  • @architkumar1265
    @architkumar1265 Před měsícem

    Memory from the cache can be provided to any application which needs it.
    So basically we should have free memory more, instead of Cache memory as cache memory is not that important. If we have cache memory more, we can either reboot the system to increase the memory and eliminate it from cache, or we can use a command -> [echo 3 > proc/sys/vm/drop_caches]
    Correct me, if I'm wrong 👍🏻👍🏻

  • @slalomsk8er397
    @slalomsk8er397 Před rokem +4

    Server CPU can be low if it's waiting for you - like my nextcloud on my raspberry pi ;)
    But you are right and this was a major driver in virtualization and later containerization - use the resources to the max with minimal overhead and bottlenecks.
    Yes, backups are only really in existence if you tested them and retest on a schedule!

    • @javabeanz8549
      @javabeanz8549 Před rokem +4

      I think that the CPU usage is widely variable. I manage web servers and email servers for customers these days, so unless there's a lot of activity, CPU usage is very low.
      But I used to deal with monitoring servers for ISPs, and high loads were common. When pulling data from thousands of devices on a regular basis, the servers were kept very busy.

    • @denalimike8159
      @denalimike8159 Před rokem

      Love the videos thanks!

  • @TFJSSD
    @TFJSSD Před 17 dny

    I Remember back in the amiga era there was a dynamic ramdisk in workbench

  • @Gentlemanspot
    @Gentlemanspot Před rokem

    Love the video, his voice reminds me of StrongSad form homestar runner! much joy!

  • @PlanetLinuxChannel
    @PlanetLinuxChannel Před rokem +48

    When it comes to using Linux commands, I think it’s worthwhile to try to remember the general syntax of commands you use frequently, but don’t worry about remembering all the options / flags / arguments/ etc. So long as you have the name of the command, most commands are a simple “command -h” or “command -help” away from getting a list of available options and ways to use it. Yes you can do “man command”, but manual pages are confusing and terrible! 😀 They’re either way to brief with no additional info or WAY too long and convoluted, so at least see if the command has a -h or -help flag first.

    • @brettsjoholm
      @brettsjoholm Před rokem +1

      Ohhh. That's awesome. I never knew that... Because yes, man pages are useless for me most of the time.

    • @PlanetLinuxChannel
      @PlanetLinuxChannel Před rokem +1

      @@brettsjoholm yep. Sometimes -h or -help doesn’t do much better, but often it will give a nicely condensed blurb of the command syntax and what each of the possible flags / arguments do.

    • @Svyatoclav
      @Svyatoclav Před rokem +3

      Try to use "tldr" command - it is VERY helpful for me, I actually use it every day to see stuff about commands in very quickly way lol

    • @sylviam6535
      @sylviam6535 Před 11 měsíci

      Make notes of your most used commands. As you said, navigating the man pages is just terrible.

    • @trajectoryunown
      @trajectoryunown Před 10 měsíci +3

      tealdeer is also handy for common programs. It's basically a mini man page with the commands and options you're most likely to want to use.

  • @sportbikeguy9875
    @sportbikeguy9875 Před 10 měsíci +2

    High CPU usage might not be an issue on a server, but if your desktop is idling at, say 80%, you don't really have much overhead for other applications

  • @joshhardin666
    @joshhardin666 Před rokem +3

    You spent a bit of time talking about LVM and it's snapshot and backup capabilities, but in my experience, LVM has basically been supplanted by zfs in most instances. for pretty much any system that requires redundancy in file systems (multiple disks / some level of RAID) zfs is significantly superior when it comes to filesystem integrity over stuff like ext4 and btrfs, as well as using hardware raid controllers (which often do the wrong thing in a collision). I would suggest folks learning about linux learn about the zfs tools rather than using the old lvm ways of doing things

  • @zarzavattzarzavatt9309
    @zarzavattzarzavatt9309 Před 5 měsíci +1

    nr 7. unfortunately there is not always easy to have a backup distro at hand. in many environments there are other constraints than the distro itself and the app running on it: availability of official/verified images in public clouds, your security agent may only support a limited number of distros, etc. some distros, even if supported by your apps get support last of all (debian :)
    in some cases you just have to go wherever the big players are going.

  • @igrewold
    @igrewold Před rokem

    Good stuff man, thanks

  • @simon215a
    @simon215a Před rokem

    For fast usage of commands I use: tealdeer, navi. They contain fst essential summary of usage.

  • @bobwong8268
    @bobwong8268 Před rokem

    Wow... 👍👍👍👍👍
    Thank You Jay!

  • @1pcfred
    @1pcfred Před 20 dny

    I have a shell script that displays a text file in the terminal. It's my personal help system. Plus I also keep a lot of notes whenever I perform tasks in the OS. Like say when I compile some software I create a text file with notes about how I built it. I can always refer to those notes when I want to do that task again.

  • @Monarchias
    @Monarchias Před rokem +4

    Yes please. I would like to see more of '10 Things I wish I Knew about Linux'! For example on a sideway, different level of technologies through your career. What you met what you knew and what new technologies surprized you? Thank you for your educational videos.

    • @PoeLemic
      @PoeLemic Před rokem

      Yeah, I said same thing -- rather than random stuff; he should organize it by career-period or grouping-ideas to topics (e.g., disk management or server installation), etc.

  • @pylang3803
    @pylang3803 Před rokem

    That book plug was so smooth :D

  • @hansdampf2284
    @hansdampf2284 Před rokem

    4:24 you could argue that the purpose of a server is not doing work but providing the possibility that work could be done if it is demanded. So even an idling service provides the service of the possibility and so is not without purpose.

  • @Vandan9166
    @Vandan9166 Před rokem

    Hey Jay, great video. Like your style of teaching.
    Cheers!
    Dan Manzano

  • @SeakalalaMojapelo-yg8jm
    @SeakalalaMojapelo-yg8jm Před měsícem

    Cool video indeed, very much simplified.

  • @abhishrutg
    @abhishrutg Před 5 měsíci

    this video was very useful. thank you ! PLEASE MAKE A FOLLOW UP VIDEO !

  • @helloimatapir
    @helloimatapir Před rokem +1

    Great content as usual Jay. I do miss the old intro though...

  • @stevejohnson1321
    @stevejohnson1321 Před rokem +2

    If I can remember a few letters of a command I once used, sometimes I'll drag .bash_history file into a text editor so I can use the search function. If you use a shell other than bash, the file name will be different. Although the Up-arrow will eventually get you to that past command, sometimes I used it two or three years ago. That can mean a lot of clicks.. Olden days .bash_history would get truncated to save resources, but on desktop systems the file can stay alive for years.

    • @1pcfred
      @1pcfred Před 20 dny

      you can search a file on the command line. Just use grep on it.

  • @augustedrifande6017
    @augustedrifande6017 Před 5 měsíci +1

    Is it possible, to some extent, to place the distribution you're using in a GIT (a form of backup)? Either, to reinstall or synchronize parts of the FS (with this differential you can know several aspects of your FS)?