How To Get Help In Linux (For New Users)

hello again vince here with a bit of a ramble and guide let's discuss how you as a new user to linux might go about getting the help you may need to sort out any issues you may run into i've based this on my own experience and also some nuggets of advice that i've heard first let's start by how you might help yourself if you've come this far then i presume that you've managed to install a linux distro but you might have come across some problem the first thing you need to be aware of is the particular hardware that you are running if you built your own computer you may already know this but this tip will still assist you in knowing what the linux kernel may or may not be recognizing your hardware as particularly useful for when searching for information online there are various ways to get information about your system but probably the most popular way is the inxi command as it works across all distros this is especially useful for the purposes of asking questions in forums which i'll cover later in this video your distro may have a graphical tool also for surveying the system's hardware and you can surely use this most distros will have inxi installed but if you find that it's missing then your first task is to install it via the app store or the package manager of your distro the way you use it is quite simply in terminal i n x i dash capital f x z the f option gives you full output x adds details and z hides identified information like mac ip addresses and host names and so if we run this here you'll find information on what kernel you're running what cpu you're running your gpu graphics driver network card and lots of other stuff there are other commands that you might find useful and i'll list these in the video description but there's lshw which is similar to inexcite but in a different format there's ls pci which lists all your pci devices there's ls usb which lists your usb devices and there's x input list which lists all your input devices now that you've got your system information we can go about refining your search technique or google foo as i tend to call it it is highly likely that whatever problem you might be coming across there is someone out there who has come across that same or very similar issue and perhaps someone else has been kind enough to post a solution i've found that you can save time in your search for answers if you can be as specific as you can let's try an example so a common issue that some people might have is screen tearing and you might want to also include your gpu in my case it's an rx460 and either just typing in linux or more specifically the distro you're using so in my case it would normally be rco linux but you might be using ubuntu 20.04 the reason why i mentioned the version number in the search is you may need to be wary of old information that may not apply if a newer version of a distro has changed the way they handle certain things so try to research the most up-to-date solution to your problem in a rolling distribution like arch-based open souza tumbleweed or solus you may not have a version number so just start by reading what looks like the most recent information on the problem you are having once you have your search results you'll find that they tend to be either in the form of articles blog posts wiki pages or forum posts if there is a graphical user interface way of solving your problem that's great however you will more than likely find that the vast majority of solutions will be based on running terminal commands don't be too afraid of this there is a saying that you shouldn't just copy and paste terminal commands from some random website to be run on your system it's often said in jest but there is some truth to it it's somewhat important that you have some idea of what the command will be doing on your system you could end up doing real harm to your system although the vast majority of the time it's fine a good article or forum post like this one will have an explanation as to what the commands are doing so for example here it explains why you're running the commands that you are running don't be too worried if initially you really don't comprehend exactly what's going on in time you will gather more and more knowledge just like the first few times you learn anything however just be a little cautious and use some common sense especially with where you might be getting your information from so wiki pages are another common search result and this brings me to the venerable archwiki this is probably one of the most comprehensive guides around for a linux distro it is one that i very much often refer to a word of caution it's generally aimed at the slightly more technically adept user you do need to read it fairly carefully to get the most out of it don't be afraid of it though as it is a very valuable resource even when i'm not running an archbase distro quite often i'll find something in the archwiki that explains the precise problem i'm having and though it may not immediately solve said problem it commonly gives me enough clues to lead me down the right path that does solve it don't be thinking that this is the only valuable wiki however because debian also has a fantastic wiki as does open souza some of these are easier to read than others and this is by no means an exhaustive list also other distributions have fantastic documentation like mx linux and solace that may not be in the form of a wiki finally in terms of searching for answers you will most likely come across forums these will be posts written by developers and users for questions that might be asked if you find that your question has already been answered at some point then great you're also welcome to sign into forums and ask questions yourself they are there for that specific purpose quite often when you ask a question particularly if it's hardware related you might be asked back what kind of system are you running and this is where the inxi command i showed you earlier comes in handy there are some important points to remember when joining a forum first of all find the rules page and read them most forums have them next try to keep in mind that the vast majority of free and open source software is maintained and supported by volunteers who donate time out of their lives because they love to do so just like you might ask for help in real life if you approach it in an appreciative and humble way i can almost guarantee that you will get much better responses from fellow forum members and you may even get someone going the extra mile for you to help solve your problem if the first post from you that another forum member sees is someone jumping in and demanding answers then how motivated do you think they will be to continue helping or just switch off and do almost anything else in their busy lives it's also expected to some extent that you have tried some things yourself prior to asking a question whether it be that your search on the internet has yielded no results or that certain fixes you've tried haven't worked explain these to people on the forum however don't get too hung up if you aren't that technically proficient explain that also if it is the case most reasonable forums are understanding that people are arriving at all different levels of knowledge there are plenty of friendly and supportive forums out there some of the ones i've personally come across are the ubuntu forums linux mint peppermint forums manjaro mx linux and solus forums find the one for your distro and start there just like in real life if you come across anyone being dismissive or snarky feel free to ignore them though this is definitely in the minority i found some distros will also have more real-time discussion formats like these telegram and discord groups for my daily driver distribution arca linux and this brings me finally to the community aspects of linux and more broadly open source software remember all this stuff has been made by people coming together with a shared goal and passion the operating system and software is indeed great but it really comes alive if you start immersing yourself in the communities that come along with it you'll find help discover new ways of doing things learn something that you might not otherwise have found yourself and maybe even make yourself a new friend or two one of the first communities i came across was switch to linux because of his tutorials and videos on lots of different distros i was able to get a foothold in my current linux journey his youtube channel also produces a lot of privacy and security related content which by its nature can at times be controversial but switched is a genuine and a good guy he and his community are always willing to help as they did for me when i've had questions another great youtube channel is joe collins who specifically targets much of his content to new users and fostering a friendly community he also runs a fantastic forum called easy linux total os today is also very welcoming for new users there's a lot of focus here on putting the fund back into computing and linux with toss next up is one of the champions of the linux community the destination linux network michael ryan and noah put out a great podcast called destination linux as well as each of them producing their own content on their channels and making various other podcasts there's also jason evangelo of forbes magazine fame who produces zone podcasts and videos called linux for everyone they are each super knowledgeable and as you can see at the top of the page there are plenty of ways you can join the community and discussion i've also noticed they're producing a new website called front page linux that has news and written tutorials it makes for fantastic reading now moving on to one of the most welcoming communities which has got to be big daddy linux or biddle as it's affectionately known there are weekly shows that anyone can join in on in zoom or simply in chat everyone there is super friendly and the big daddy himself rocco is ever the gentleman at making people feel welcome in the discussion if you can't make it to the show there are plenty of other ways you can join the community if you check out his website of course you can't talk about friendly communities without mentioning steve's very own here his is a smaller channel thus far but he focuses on doing a lot of live streams and being very welcoming to newcomers you can tell how much he enjoys engaging with the community and how much he loves doing so it's a very friendly place to ask questions once you join some of these communities you will then discover other people producing great edutaining content who are also part of these communities such as distro tubes next level stuff he too has a friendly and welcoming community however it doesn't stop there there's english bob for gaming shenanigans sudo reboot pct-lc dj ware the linux experiment infinitely galactic and many more people who i apologize for not mentioning otherwise i'll be stuck here forever these are all people creating fantastic content and fostering great communities to help users it is just a sampling of the ones i found welcoming friendly and supportive as there are many more they are great places to get help learn and meet like-minded people i think i'll finish up the video now but before i go i will invite you to join me and many others in any of the aforementioned communities to continue the conversation hit me up also in the comments below what other ways have you found help in linux any questions or suggestions for me hit subscribe if you would like to follow my content and i'll see you next time bye

Welcome to Linux! What are the best ways to get help if you get stuck with a problem? How to get information about your hardware: https://opensource.com/article/19/9/linux-commands-hardware-information Terminal commands for hardware information: inxi -Fxz lshw = similar to inxi, but in a different format lspci = lists your pci devices lsusb = lists your usb devices xinput list = lists your input devices Linux Wikis: Arch wiki: https://wiki.archlinux.org/ Debian wiki: https://wiki.debian.org/ OpenSUSE wiki: https://en.opensuse.org/Main_Page Linux Forums: Ubuntu: https://ubuntuforums.org/ Linux Mint: https://forums.linuxmint.com/ Peppermint OS: https://forum.peppermintos.com/ Manjaro: https://forum.manjaro.org/ MX Linux: https://forum.mxlinux.org/ Solus: https://discuss.getsol.us/ Linux Communities: Switched To Linux: https://switchedtolinux.com/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoryWpk4QVYKFCJul9KBdyw Joe Collins: https://www.youtube.com/user/BadEditPro https://www.ezeelinux.com/ Total OS Today: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcJEcTGtV0awEOgQm0lm2VQ Destination Linux: https://destinationlinux.network/ https://frontpagelinux.com/ Big Daddy Linux: https://bigdaddylinux.com/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtZRKfyvx7GUEi-Lr7f4Nxg StevesVeryOwn: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxMCH3OCBOu9NfdYBcMctgA DistroTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVls1GmFKf6WlTraIb_IaJg English Bob: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjLSKO00DqkEPHn6lr6tpFQ Sudo Reboot: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-x4oXG1CJPrhMiARkW9b3A PCTLC: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuzckNxsLhiaPZnG03UjRbA DJ Ware: https://www.youtube.com/user/cruxwork The Linux Experiment: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5UAwBUum7CPN5buc-_N1Fw InfinitelyGalactic: https://www.youtube.com/user/InfinitelyGalactic ...and many more!! Attributions: ballpen-blur-close-up-computer-461077 Photo by picjumbo.com from Pexels Begin Photo by Danielle MacInnes on Unsplash grumpy emoji from pngwing.com How To Build A Gaming PC By - Henry Cavill two-hands-holding-heart-shaped-lollipops-4474754 Photo by alleksana from Pexels Contact me: Twitter: @sleepyeyesvince MeWe: https://mewe.com/i/sleepyeyesvince