Is it true that you can find out almost any information you want to know within the Linux system?

[gregoryshock]

I don't just run Linux Mint. I run several different Linux Distros. I'm sure many users here do that too. For that reason sometimes I look for help from several different Linux forums.

My common practice goes something like this. I first try to solve the problem on my own. In order to that I need information. I often use google, and youtube search to locate tutorials. I try to make sure those tutorials are as "up to date" as I can. Then I try the tutorial. If it works, I call it good and move on... If the tutorial doesn't work, or I can't find any information about my problem, then I turn to the Linux community. If my problem is with Linux Mint, most often I will ask that question here. Usually I receive a really good answer! Or someone helps me as I diagnose the problem. I am very grateful to the Linux Mint community for all the help... In fact I have sent Mint a donation several times.

Lately I've been really scratching my head. I mean I have been scratching my head in the worst possible way! It all started off with me adjusting swappiness. I did it the way I always did it. I have recently learned that the method I have always used does not work the same on every Linux distro. That's cool! I really don't care about that. The problem is, someone told the way I was doing it is wrong, and that all the tutorials on doing it is also wrong. The reason this person gave me is that tutorials on google are almost always wrong because they are not "up to date". He prefers to ask the computer for his information. He has made the claim that almost all the information you want to know about Linux is hidden right inside the system. He claims he uses man pages, and other documents within the directories. Don't get me wrong! I understand how to bring up a man page for a command that I already know exists. But somehow this person figured out that you can change swappiness this way /etc/sysctl.d/vm.swappiness.conf. I'm eager to try it out on Linux Mint to see what happens. So far I have only tired it on PCLinuxOS and I can tell you it works there, but I was unable to find any tutorial from an online search that told me you could do it this way.

Here is the question I want an answer too: Is it true that you can find out almost any information you want to know within the Linux system? Next question is how? What if you don't know what your looking for? I feel that this needs to be made into a discussion... I chose Linux Mint to ask this question because you have been around for a long time, and I know you guys are friendly.

[t42]

Next question is how? What if you don't know what your looking for?

Are you believe that one's development comes before learning or learning comes before development?

[gregoryshock]

Next question is how? What if you don't know what your looking for?

Are you believe that one's development comes before learning or learning comes before development?

Your question sounds philosophical too me. I have a hard time understanding what it is your asking. I'm giving you an answer. But the answer I'm giving you is based on my best guess of what your asking me.

I believe that people learn a whole bunch of different ways. Sometimes we learn through experiment, sometimes we learn things by accident, and sometimes we learn from each other. I think most of the time we learn from each other. Also we don't all learn in the same way. I was never very good in a classroom. I am not very good at experimentation learning either. The quickest and best way for me to learn is by someone telling or showing me something then I put that knowledge into practice. I most often obtain that kind of knowledge through tutorials, books or videos.

[Rocky Bennett]

Very philosophical thread. I like this type of digression from the common questions.

[t42]

Your question sounds philosophical too me.

Your question sounded philosophical too me Thank you for the answer, I think you partially replied to your initial question. Also you can find out almost any information you want to know being within the community on question to question basis, though we can't define the limits of what the community capable to do.

[gregoryshock]

I'm going to give you guys a link to where someone is trying to tell me where the documentation is. See if you can understand this. I have trouble understanding the way this individual writes. I'm not trying to cause trouble or ask you to take my side. I'm just pointing out that I have trouble understanding when people write this way.
https://www.cupoflinux.com/SBB/index.ph ... l#msg39069

It sounds to me like He is saying, I can find the documentation I need in the following directories.
/etc/*
/etc/defaults/*
/usr/share/doc/*

Then there is:
man systemd
man locate

If He's correct, then I don't like it that Linux spreads documentation all over the place. I feel that it would make it a lot easier on the user if all documentation is put in one directory. Feel free to write your opinions.

[djph]

That forum layout is atrocious. Also, you seem to have linked the wrong post.

Anyway, assuming I found the right post you're referencing ... The poster is apparently saying the internet should be considered to be questionable, due to 20+ years of "Linux Tutorials" being left out there to rot. As such, the "best" documentation will be included with the software itself. For example,

1. A configuration file in /etc/ (i.e. read comments)
2. A "default" configuration (if available) in /etc/defaults/ (i.e. read comments)
3. "Actual documentation" in /usr/share/doc/

Additionally, manual ('man') pages; specifically "man systemd" or "man locate" would be good to look at for [post topic].

[newlyminted7]

Here is the question I want an answer too: Is it true that you can find out almost any information you want to know within the Linux system?

Yes and no, as far as I'm concerned. I would say that it depends on what you're looking for.

The guy who told you that "all the tutorials are wrong" about swappiness isn't altogether incorrect. Most articles on the subject of swappiness in Linux walk you through how to do it in a simplistic way, but few will tell you that it is usually unnecessary to adjust swappiness at all.

Read this article:
https://www.howtogeek.com/449691/what-i ... change-it/
I, for one, agree with and defer to Dave McKay, who wrote that article. I personally think changing swappiness is unnecessary.

As for being able to find out "almost any information you want to know within the Linux system", I'd be inclined to agree with other posters in this thread who have pointed out that it has a lot to do with the way you learn. It also has to do with the subject. Not all subjects are intended to be learned to 100% fluency. Are you going to compile applications from source? Hack the kernel? Write a C++ program? Or just tweak your Linux desktop UI? Each subject obviously requires a different level of investment. Are you going to be able to learn in-depth fluency of each subject I just listed from just the documentation already present on a Linux system? Highly unikely. Is most of the related documentation already on your machine? Much of it is, yes, but certainly not all of it. One source of information that works for one person isn't always going to work for another. It is easy to get dogmatic and opinionated in the computer/internet world, but I've found that approach to lead to more difficulty than it's worth. Decide what style of learning works best for you and go with it.

Some aspects of Linux are very hard to learn about on the internet and many people require books and/or classes for certain subjects since some can be extremely complex.

In my opinion, Linux does have a good amount of documentation about itself and its applications within most distributions, but that documentation is not always easy to understand, nor does not take into account the level of the learner. So this makes it a less-than-ideal learning situation for many people. Again, this is just my opinion, because, as I pointed out, some aspects are much more complex than others when it comes to Linux.

Next question is how?

As people have already pointed out, there are man pages, documentation, and more on your Linux system. Beyond that is the internet, books, classes, and groups. Depends on how you learn and how much you want to learn about any given subject.

And of course lots of articles, tutorials, and other infomation out there on the internet, and in books and some classes, is out of date, and even sometimes inaccurate, poorly written, or just plain click bait. That's just the way it is. This means you have to use your intuition and good old common sense when researching subjects online. Often this can require reading many different sources and types of information and matching patterns from that information before getting what you need. Again, most people learn in different ways.

What if you don't know what your looking for?

Cross that bridge when you come to it.

[Moonstone Man]

What if you don't know what your looking for?

Obviously then, you'll never find it.

Some of us are gifted with the ability to make 1 + 1 = 2, to join the dots, to extrapolate, to think laterally, and to identify relationships, and some are not. That is the entire reason for forums like this one; the people who can are here to assist those who cannot.

[Termy]

Yes, most especially from the terminal.

There are informational tools like `lspci`, `lshw`, `lsusb`, `lscpu`, `lsmem`, `lsipc`, and many more. I've even written a couple myself. You also have pretty tools like `inxi` which try to show you lots with the one tool, which is nice. There are even tools which can show you information about your BIOS/UEFI. You can use SystemD's various tools, like `journalctl`, `systemctl`, and `sysctl`, to give you more system information, especially about the services (units) on the system and your kernel parameters. There are plenty of tools to access information about storage devices, such as `fdisk`, `parted`, and `hdparm`.

You can use SYSFS, which is basically stuff you find in '/sys', and that gives you absolutely tons of system and hardware information, as well as kernel parameters. There's PROCFS, which is essentially '/proc', that can also give you some interesting information, such as detailed information on processes, networking information, and some things like memory and the CPU. Speaking of networking, there is `ss` (was: `netstat`), `ip` (was: `ifconfig`), and more.

Then there are the many logs, which are typically stored in '/var/log', such as APT's log file(s): '/var/log/apt/history.log' There are system-wide logs like '/var/log/syslog`, or you can talk to the kernel ring buffer with `dmesg`. You'll find firewall-related logs, such as '/var/log/ufw.log'. There's '/var/log/boot.log' which shows that information you see when you boot your system (post BIOS/UEFI).

Accessing firewall information can be done with `iptables`, or — provided you have UFW — you can use `ufw`, such as: `sudo ufw status`

Then there's all the information you can glean from looking at opened windows, such as can be done with `xwininfo` and `xprop`. This reminds me, you can even find out information on the keys you press, as you press them, by using `xev`. You can use `xrandr` and `xgamma` (or similar) to find out display-related information, such as your resolution, refresh rate, display name, and gamma settings. There's `xset` for some information on your screensaver (old-school type), keyboard, and mouse.

You can get a lot of user-related information with tools like `w`, `who`, `id`, `lsusers`, and `users`, also by looking at files like '/etc/passwd' and '/etc/group', to name just a few.

The list does go on.

[Moonstone Man]

Yes, most especially from the terminal.

lol

[Hoser Rob]

Here is the question I want an answer too: Is it true that you can find out almost any information you want to know within the Linux system?

Yes and no, as far as I'm concerned. I would say that it depends on what you're looking for.

The guy who told you that "all the tutorials are wrong" about swappiness isn't altogether incorrect. ...

Not entirely correct either. It's important that any solutions are for your point release (for Mint 20 non LMDE info for UBuntu 20.04 is OK). If this friend knew half what he thinks he does that would have been what he told you, not a blanket they're all useless. Sounds like a 3rd rate CLI rooster to me.

What he's talking about are man/help pages, and those are NOT useful for beginners. They are meant for experts who already know how it works but need to be reminded of the syntax. Which your poser buddy should know too.

[djph]

Here is the question I want an answer too: Is it true that you can find out almost any information you want to know within the Linux system?

Yes and no, as far as I'm concerned. I would say that it depends on what you're looking for.

The guy who told you that "all the tutorials are wrong" about swappiness isn't altogether incorrect. ...

[...]If this friend knew half what he thinks he does that would have been what he told you, not a blanket they're all useless. Sounds like a 3rd rate CLI rooster to me.

I'm probably just short of coffee right now, but nowhere in the post by "newlyminted7" was there a reference to a "friend".

Or did you mean his comment about "that guy", which was (as far as I can tell) referencing the cupoflinux post linked by "gregoryshock" a few posts back?