[CentOS] I want an advice

[James B. Byrne]

On Wed, February 13, 2013 17:48, Bassem Sossan wrote:
> Hello
>
> I've changed from Ms Windows 2008 R2 to CentOS 6 recently, and
> there are many aspects to learn in relation to command line
> ( Bash scripting, package system managing, file system and so on )...
>
> I need to apply as much as I can of Network Infrastructure knowledge
> ( DNS, DHCP and Virtualization .... ) concepts using CentOS 6
> GUI...
>
> I know that I must learn dealing with linux using command tools
> and that will come, but it has much more of time, so, Am I forced
> as a learner to follow command line tools before going to GUI or I
> can get a good knowledge and experience by implementing my skills
> on GUI  ?
>
> So sorry to pothering....

First, I am a *nix heretic.  Second, I have been using one form of
Redhat or another since v5.2 c.1999.

For the past 11 years or so I have used Webmin (shielded through
IPTables for those horrified at the security implications) to
administer my servers, both local and remote.  I simply could not get
my job done in the time available without it or something much like
it.  The CLI of the underlying utilities is the final arbitrator of
course and there 'man <utility_name>' is your ever-present friend
(usually).  Nonetheless, the syntax of even the most common *nix
commands is often arcane and similar utilities frequently have such
subtly different variations that ones mind is sometimes driven to
distraction with the inconsistencies.

A GUI, whether web based or not, at least clears away that problem for
many routine tasks.  In any case you will be forced to learn the cli
for some utilities from the outset because there is no safe way of
using them otherwise.  And situations will arise where knowing how to
creatively combine utilities with pipes on the command line will save
a great deal of time and trouble.  A GUI will never give you those
opportunities. But for most day-to-day stuff a GUI saves a
considerable amount of effort and prevents a great deal of error. Both
of which for a newcomer to Linux are of great value.

As others suggested, having a test server for experimentation is a
really, really good idea.  I tend to fire up guest instances on my kvm
desktop for such 'proof of concept' trials but I suppose any
crash-and-burn system would suffice.

Good luck and welcome.

Regards,

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