Total noob

[Whitehorse2018]

Just wanted to say hello as this is my first foray in to the world of Linux.
I played around with Linux Mint, initially booting from a USB and finally decided to just take the plunge and turn my old laptop in a solely Linux Mint workstation when I replaced it.
I’m well out of my depth to be honest, but after a few days I’ve already been playing with terminal to download software rather than use the software manager, so that’s a start I guess.
I’ve hit a brick wall with trying to get an Apache2 server up and running through, so that’s my next project!

[redlined]

hi Whitehorse2018!

Welcome to Linux Mint and these excellent forums! Like you, I'm a noob too, maybe graduated from total noob to just dangerous newb though

I haven't looked at Apache server yet but do think you will find these webpages very helpful in learning Linux basics and advanced stuff, they are ones I've been referring to often as I bookmarked them due to local forum experts recommending some time back.

(in no particular order of preference)

http://linuxcommand.org/index.php

https://linuxjourney.com/

https://ryanstutorials.net/linuxtutorial/cheatsheet.php

after this do not hesitate to see if there are man pages to read for any package you have installed, simply run the command in terminal man packagename reading those can be overwhelming amount of info, especially when they reference even more to read in the SEE ALSO paragraph, but I enjoy the reading and learning so mention it in case you hadn't come across the 'man' command entered into terminal. (ps. scroll man pages in terminal until done reading then hit "q" (lower case Q) in order to quit and return to terminal prompt)

other flags with packagename may also shed light into flags (switches) and commands and sometimes even examples to help format it. e.g. packagename -? and/or (they might return different results or not found) packagename --help

as always, if ever in doubt or unsure don't hesitate to post in these forums for help. I strongly recommend to always make new thread instead of tagging in on other help threads seeking help for your own same/similar issue (especially threads older than release date of version of Mint and desktop environment you run).

All in all, this is a great group of folks with many experts and long time experienced in Mint and all flavors of Linux. Join in and help where/how you can and as your experience grows your newbness is tolerated much more for participating (at least it's worked that way for me

edit to add: I forgot to mention, one such local expert has a blog for easy linux tips, very useful for setting things up on new install, common issues, etc and keeping it simple to understand for us new to linux folks:
https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.com

[phd21]

Hi Whitehorse2018,

Welcome to the wonderful world of Linux Mint and its excellent forum!

I just read your post and the good replies to it. Here are my thoughts on this as well.

It would help to know more about your system setup. If you run "inxi -Fxzd" and "lsusb" from the console terminal prompt, highlight the results, copy and paste them back here, that should provide enough information.

Normally when people want to install Apache web server it is recommended to install "lamp" (Install Linux Apache, MySQL, PHP)

How to Install a LAMP Stack on Ubuntu 18.04
https://www.linode.com/docs/web-servers ... ntu-18-04/

How To Install Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP (LAMP) stack on Ubuntu 18.04 | DigitalOcean
https://www.digitalocean.com/community/ ... untu-18-04

Hope this helps ...

[timbow]

You might think that because a lot of commercial web servers run on linux that it will be easy and simple to run a local lamp server on your linux desktop. It isn't. You can get in a right muddle with it, and the internet is awash with incomplete and out of date advice. As a fellow noob I can tell you that I really struggled and failed many times to get a lamp setup for simple web development working . Eventually I found the bitnami lampstack, which works well and is not hard to install or understand.
https://docs.bitnami.com/installer/infr ... -with-lamp

[mediclaser]

+1 on that DigitalOcean site recommended by phd21. I followed the guide in there on a few installation tests I did recently and it's so easy.

[phd21]

Hi mediclaser, Whitehorse2018, etc...

I have always been able to easily install LAMP with Apache web server using the instructions from DigitalOcean and sometimes I'll use parts of instructions from other LAMP web page installation instructions for adding other features or packages.

I would mention (caution) that the instructions pertaining to securing MySQL could wait until after installing and verifying PHP, but securing MySQL instructions should definitely be done.

Hope this helps ...

[phd21]

Hi mediclaser, Whitehorse2018, etc...

Update 12-28-2018 07:01pm US Eastern: I just installed Apache web server (LAMP) using the instructions from either web link and they both worked perfectly and easily. Took less than 15 minutes including editing the various files. The simple "tasksel" option from the first link worked too but used an insecure login name and password, so run the secure MYSQL command and set a new login name and password.

FYI: How to Install phpMyAdmin on Ubuntu - HostingAdvice.com
https://www.hostingadvice.com/how-to/in ... on-ubuntu/

FYI: Install PHP 7.2-mcrypt Module on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | Website for Students
https://websiteforstudents.com/install- ... 18-04-lts/

Hope this helps ...

[jimallyn]

Welcome aboard, Whitehorse2018!

[WharfRat]

Hello Whitehorse2018

Welcome to Linux Mint and the Linux Mint forum