Continuing Education

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It's no secret that the Linux world changes quickly. As a result, the level of mastery you reach is directly proportional to the amount of time you spend educating yourself. So, if you're really serious about mastering Linux, you have to be willing to spend the time to stay informed. This section discusses some good resources to that end.

Linux-Kernel List

If you want to hang out with the real Linux gurus, you need to follow the kernel hackers' mailing list. Known as the linux-kernel list (sometimes abbreviated as "l-k"), much of the content is very technical in nature. However, it does have a lot of information useful to nondevelopers on issues and trends related to the kernel, so it's worthwhile to follow. Information on subscribing to the linux-kernel list is available at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html. This list is extremely high traffic, so you may instead wish to check out some of the excellent summary sites, such as Kernel Traffic at http://kt.zork.net/kernel-traffic/.

Distribution Mailing Lists

Another invaluable resource is the mailing list for your distribution. Typically, each distribution will have separate lists for the production-quality version and any testing or beta versions that are in development. If you're really interested in staying on top of trends and future developments, follow the beta lists, because that's where the action is. The following links can get you started with the mailing lists for each of the sample distributions discussed in this book:

• Red Hat Linux: http://www.redhat.com/mailing-lists/

• Slackware Linux: http://slackware.com/lists/

• Debian GNU/Linux: http://www.debian.org/MailingLists/

Perhaps most of all, keep an open mind. Many users frequently become familiar with a preferred distribution and tend to ignore or even dismiss (or worse!) the other distributions. This is a mistake for anyone who truly wishes to master a system, since there are always compromises in a given distribution, and each is best at something. Whenever you get ready to upgrade, consider checking out another distribution; at best, you may find it superior and switch, and at worst you are reminded how good you've already got it. Most likely you'll just learn something new along the way. After all, I didn't learn enough to write this book by spending all my time on one distribution!

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