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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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What're some of the dumbest things you've done to yourself in Linux? (lemmy.ca)

submitted 8 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I'm working on a some materials for a class wherein I'll be teaching some young, wide-eyed Windows nerds about Linux and we're including a section we're calling "foot guns". Basically it's ways you might shoot yourself in the foot while meddling with your newfound Linux powers.

I've got the usual forgetting the . in lines like this:

$ rm -rf ./bin

As well as a bunch of other fun stories like that one time I mounted my Linux home folder into my Windows machine, forgot I did that, then deleted a parent folder.

You know, the war stories.

Tell me yours. I wanna share your mistakes so that they can learn from them.

Fun (?) side note: somehow, my entire ${HOME}/projects folder has been deleted like... just now, and I have no idea how it happened. I may have a terrible new story to add if I figure it out.

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[–] [email protected] 49 points 8 months ago (18 children)

have an nvidia GPU
have Fedora
download RPM package of drivers for Red Hat (after all, Fedora and Red Hat are... compatible, right?)
Everything goes fine
Six months later, upgrade to a new version of Fedora
oops, kernel panic at boot after the upgrade, and no video to troubleshoot after UEFI boot
figure out how to boot into a recovery partition from UEFI
figure out how to enable a serial console over a USB device
figure out how to connect to the serial console from another computer using another USB device
figure out what the kernel panic is from (not the upgrade, but the driver which wasn't upgraded)
figure out how to uninstall the incorrectly installed driver
figure out how to install the correct driver

That was a fun three week OS upgrade.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 8 months ago (16 children)

I have a super-n00b question, and I apologize in advance, but, uh...yeah, what is a serial console?

[–] AngryPancake 5 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Adding to what DmMacniel said, it's a hardware interface, often accessed via a USB port (which after all, is the universal serial bus).

[–] FigMcLargeHuge 6 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Christ you guys are making me feel old. I remember back in the day when a serial connection was made through an actual serial port. I know I have some serial cards around here somewhere. I have also used the tar command on an actual tape... Here's a fun fact, if your tape drive (big reel to reel looking thing, not a cassette or other kind of 'tape') has an issue with rewinding, do not use your finger to manually spin the reel. Use a pencil. I finished reeling my tape back up once and realized I now had a blister on the end of my finger.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

My motherboard which is only a few years old (2ish?) has serial port pin outs.

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