Learning Linux

Out of respect for my itch to continuously learn, last weekend I began learning Linux.

I first came across Linux and its founder, Linus Torvalds, surprisingly early in life; when I was a wee 7-year-old kid.

That year, I developed a serious knee bone infection and was stuck in bed for months. My parents didn't believe in having a TV at home, so I was just constantly... bored. I read everything that I could get my hands on.

Most of it happened to be unhealthy amounts of Reader's Digest, amply available in our house.

In one of those magazines, I came across the story of a Swedish man who had built an operating system called Linux. I didn't grasp the technical side of it, or in fact 'any' side of the story apart from the word 'linux', it somehow stayed with me. I had no idea it would resurface again and again throughout my life.

Years later when I started learning web dev, that same word kept popping up. Linux. Ubuntu. Vim. They always felt mysterious, like tools reserved for some elite tier of developers with special powers that lil ole me didn't yet have access to.

More recently as I began integrating AI into my dev work, I noticed it quietly running scripts with commands like ls, sudo, and grep to find files and specific bits of syntax within the codebase. I loved the words, but again, no real clue what they actually meant.

But after putting in the work this weekend, these words suddenly don't appear as intimidating anymore.

I can now confidently break down what each of these terms means and I can’t believe I let myself live with this ignorance for so long!

Even though I didn’t use these tools in my day-to-day dev work before, I can now clearly see how having a solid foundation in Linux gives a developer a real advantage. It gives you a 'behind-the-scenes' kind of understanding.

For anyone curious, here’s a super simple breakdown of a few terms:

Linux

An open-source operating system known for being secure, scalable, and highly customisable. It forms the backbone of most servers, networks, and cloud infrastructure.

Ubuntu

A 'flavour' (distribution) of Linux. It uses the same Linux core but focuses on ease of use and a friendly user experience.

ls

A command that lists contents of the current directory (folder).

Vim

A powerful text editor used to write and edit text inside files directly from the terminal.

And here’s my screen inside Vim, laptop balanced on my daughter’s chair, adding an environment variable to the .zshrc file.

And the dot infront of .zshrc means a hidden file :)