Hi all.
I was wondering if anyone could give me some suggestions for books, websites, etc. for learning Linux and Apache. I eventually want to try my hand at putting together my own web server, but I have literally no experience in the field. I have been doing a whole bunch of programming (php, JavaScript, MySql, etc), so I am quite computer literate, but I just don’t know where to get started when it comes to running a server.
Ubuntu has the largest support network out there, and the largest choice of variations. You can download the alternate install distro and add what you like. There’s also a server distro that’s great, you can add what you like during the install.
Being 2011, I’m not gonna tell you “DON’T apt=get install ubuntu-desktop” it’s perfectly okay to use a GUI. It won’t stop you from using the CLI; you can learn both.
If you want a huge selection of server setup tutorials check out howtoforge.com.
linuxquestions.org
ubuntu forums
There’s a lot of help out there.
Unfortunately in this day and age, it’s not nearly as fun to learn stuff as it was 20 yrs back when there were computer clubs and SIGs. You learned 10X as fast with a couple guys who had similar interests and tossed things back and forth.
Yep, I would also like to throw in my vote for Ubuntu. A very sturdy, stable distro. Like herbie said the on-line communities for Ubuntu support are very good. I frequent linuxquestions.org and like it a lot. Other distros which are very good are openSUSE and Fedora. A really excellent rock-steady server distro is CentOS which is the free version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux. But, try out a few and see what you like.
Have fun! 
google. No really.
Crowdsourcing. No really.
Hah! Download proxmox and install CentOS, Ubuntu, Fedora, SUSE, Gentoo virtual machines and confuse yourself all to hell.
Was that apt, emerge or yum? Aaaiiiieeee!!!
I like Ubuntu server. Get 10.04 and choose SSH and LAMP server during the install. Then sudo apt-get install webmin. Stick it in a corner and set it up with ipaddress:10000
[quote=“herbie_popnecker”]Hah! Download proxmox and install CentOS, Ubuntu, Fedora, SUSE, Gentoo virtual machines and confuse yourself all to hell.
Was that apt, emerge or yum? Aaaiiiieeee!!!
I like Ubuntu server. Get 10.04 and choose SSH and LAMP server during the install. Then sudo apt-get install webmin. Stick it in a corner and set it up with ipaddress:10000[/quote]
I actually installed Ubuntu server 11.04 on a virtual machine, but I haven’t set up the GUI yet. I tried running sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop but then it told me I needed to enter parameters. I figure before I start doing anything else I should at least learn the basics of the Bash shell. I googled linux shell beginners guide and found a few sites, but I was hoping someone out there had some recommendations as well.
I started off on Basic and then Dos back in the day, so I understand the basic concepts of working in the CLI. So even thoug I don’t know Linux’s commands per se, I can figure them out quickly enough given the right resources.
It’s 11.04… some of the drivers aren’t out there yet. I installed it on Parallels, found out they won’t update the Tools until Mid-May. Tried to install it on an old Acer that only blue-screens Windows, got errors.
10.04 works great on 8 of my servers and with Parallels. Just switched from Vmware.
[quote=“herbie_popnecker”]It’s 11.04… some of the drivers aren’t out there yet. I installed it on Parallels, found out they won’t update the Tools until Mid-May. Tried to install it on an old Acer that only blue-screens Windows, got errors.
10.04 works great on 8 of my servers and with Parallels. Just switched from Vmware.[/quote]
I’m using Vmware now. What advantages does Parallels have? Can you import a virtual machine from one to the other, or are they incompatible?
I’m ran Ubuntu 11.04 in Virtualbox on my Slackware 13.37 system. The GUI ran reasonably well although not all features were available.
[quote=“Stardog Champion”]
[quote=“herbie_popnecker”]It’s 11.04… some of the drivers aren’t out there yet. I installed it on Parallels, found out they won’t update the Tools until Mid-May. Tried to install it on an old Acer that only blue-screens Windows, got errors.
10.04 works great on 8 of my servers and with Parallels. Just switched from Vmware.[/quote]
I’m using Vmware now. What advantages does Parallels have? Can you import a virtual machine from one to the other, or are they incompatible?[/quote]
I’ve used Vmware for a couple years, and a friend bought a Mac, heard of Parallels and asked me to choose and install one or the other. All the reviews said the newest Parallels was faster, so I tried it on hers. I was impressed enough to install it on mine and do a side by side compare. Parallels found the installed VMs (I had Ubuntu 9.10 and XP Pro) and converted them easily, fired up WAY faster.
Then like I mentioned, tried 11.04 and ran into the Tools problem. No internet access, the old Gnome interface only. Gonna check tonight for an update.
[quote=“herbie_popnecker”]Hah! Download proxmox and install CentOS, Ubuntu, Fedora, SUSE, Gentoo virtual machines and confuse yourself all to hell.
Was that apt, emerge or yum? Aaaiiiieeee!!!
I like Ubuntu server. Get 10.04 and choose SSH and LAMP server during the install. Then sudo apt-get install webmin. Stick it in a corner and set it up with ipaddress:10000[/quote]
thats exactly what i do 
except, mine isn’t in corner, its in a rack running on a virutal server
Thanks to everyone who posted with their advice. I really appreciate all your feedback and ideas.
One thing I should let you all know is that I’m a complete beginner when it comes to using Linux. I have no idea how to even go about installing software or configuring the system. I thought it would be relatively easy with a GUI (like with the latest version of Ubuntu), but even that is presenting a number of challenges. I am also interested in learning how to work in the shell and to write Bash scripts and so forth.
So I would like to once again ask for any ideas for resources on where to learn how to use Linux effectively. I’ve tried the resources that people have given, but they all assume a level of knowledge that I simply don’t have. I’ve tried countless iterations of searches on Google, but they’re all really hit-and-miss, and none really give a comprehensive, ground-up tutorial on how to work in Linux.
I don’t mind actually paying money for a book if it’s going to be helpful. Unfortunately, over here in Japan, English books can be hard to come by; unless I want to make the trek to Tokyo–which isn’t all that arduous but still requires a significant investment of time–I have to order from Amazon. However, I’ve had more than my share of experiences where I’ve ordered a book thinking it was going to be helpful, but it turned out to have been little more than a waste of money and space in my all-too-cramped bookshelf.
So I guess what I’m looking for is a point in the right direction on how to get started, from the ground up. Web resources would be ideal, but book recommendations are perfectly acceptable too.
Ubuntu is an excellent first version of linux to use. It also has an excellent installer that will automatically detect and help you to set-up a dual boot with windows if you want to keep windows on your hard drive. If you want to learn a little about how to use the command line this is a good tutorial that will walk you through the basics.