Want to get into Unix

Hi everyone,

Well, i think its time i started to look at Linux/Unix. I was wondering if someone could suggest something to look at (easy to start off with). I plan to install it in Virtual Server so i can play around with it. Has anyone done this before and can lend some tips ?

Whats RedHat like ? Is this a good one to start off with ?

Cheers

Wayne

I personally prefer Slackware, but you'd be better starting off with Ubuntu , which is very easy to install and also allows you to mess around if you wish. You'd also be better off using VMWare server rather than Virtual Server, as it has better support for Linux as a guest OS. Also check out the Bishop's post on his experiences while installing Ubuntu

Thanks very much for the info. I wanted to use Virtual Server because i am setting up loads of MS environments for testing purposes (and to help folk on this site). I will give it a go in Virtual Server just so i don't have to install both on my machine, if it don't work out i will give VMWare Server a go.

Thanks very much for the post

If as you've said, you need to stick with Virtual Server for other reasons, then it should work OK as well. The Linux-specific addons in VMWare Server just make life a bit easier. Anyway, I've heard that the new versions of Virtual Server/PC will have some Linux-specific addons.

Personally I learned to find my way around after installing Slackware and forcing my self to use it for everyday use by uninstalling windows. After a month I didn't miss them at all. Before that, I had tried to use "high-abstraction" distributions like redhat and mandrake in the past and failed to make any real progress, while having many apparently nonsense problems. That's why I suggest you keep away from them and use a simple, non-intrusive distribution like Slackware, Archlinux or Frugalware.

Slackbook and LNAG are two excellent free books regardless of distribution that helped me grasp the basic concepts. But the important thing in order to familiarize with Linux (and similar OS) is to use it and google yourself around everything that comes up. And then, when you have an idea about how each thing works in practice, try to read it's specifics. At least that is how it works for me, theory before practice doesn't stack well, while practice without theory is useless in the long run

Thanks very much for the help fella's. I am not too sure now how much time i can spend on this which is ashame because i wanted to get cracking so i can look at some of the different Vunerability scanners out there.

I am just booking my CISSP certification which i want to do in March so most of my time from now till then is going to be studying for that certification to hopefully further help me in my persuit into Security.