Im technologically inept

Im technologically inept and want to become alot more knowledgeable in technology in general and i dont know where to start, how did you guys do it?

>>42455 I suck too, but I decided to learn a language program some days ago (I wanted to begin with Python, but not really comfy for what I wanted to do).

>>42456 yeah, think i might learn how to make a website actually and learn how html and css work

>>42458 I choose to learn C because I want to make funny viruses, but each person has his own needs.

Install any linux distribution. Then just do what you want to do - the world is your oyster. I don't remember the last time I couldn't do something I wanted to do in some form on linux. Just be a white man and use the command line.

>>42455 Like Lain, how else would you ever do it?

>>42455 >technologically inept what do you mean by that software?hardware?if both try starting with the basics: >learn how to build a pc >install an os in a computer >learn shell scripting/powershell >learn the terminal in linux >learn a programming language python and C

>>42455 buy an rpi, it's what got me into linux and hardware and general. it kinda is like kicking dead whales down the beach though so if you can afford something like an old office PC go for that instead

>>42455 Install a distro and start tinkering with it (a good is void). Start hacking on some suckless projects to learn C. Read the manpages and arch wiki if you dont know something.

Install Linux or OpenBSD, selfhost, learn a programming language. That should be good.

make a list of stuff you want to be able to do/make. install linux or bsd. read as many manual pages as possible. get comfy using the command line. write some shell scripts. learn a programming language (python's on the easy side). play with files, sockets, threads, et cetera. try doing/making any of the things you started out wanting: if not, you'll have sufficient experience to figure the rest out yourself.

>>42455 Programming is the only thing that matters, learning anything about computers outside of the domain of programming is basically useless. I've attached an excellent book for beginners, it has a fairly childish aesthetic, but a good student should be able to overcome this.

>>43066 I don't really see where you are coming from. Are you saying that topics like kernel dev, networking, etc are useless?

Maybe we could do some zine series, conceptually explaining tech topics, like GET/POST, kernel, comp arch, etc.

>>43368 >Are you saying that topics like kernel dev, networking, etc are useless? I would consider these within the domain of programming. Things I don't consider within the domain of programming mentioned in the thread include: learning to install operating systems, HTML/CSS, assembling a PC, running CLI applications, self-hosting, etc.

>>42455 I dived head first trying things that seemingly made me incomfortable temporarily, to make them daily drivers because I recognized the potential for them

>>43066 Homebrewing? Some people are into the hardware of computers rather than software. Even raspi and arduino projects. I'd say if you're interested in the application of computers outside of exclusively digital (such as in robotics), play around disassembling old electronics and look up hardware manuals. See how everything works and interacts

lurk more unironically just install linux mint. Stop using winshit and mac. Just do it. Free your software. Free your mind.

>>43562 literally this. i don't know anything about programming but switching to a beginner-friendly distro helped me learn so many new things about my computer that I simply wouldn't have cared about if I had continued to use windows. I started learning emacs now, and I'm happy with the progress I'm doing

>>42455 1. Install a Linux distro ( doesn't need to be hard, just go with Ubuntu/Mint or Fedora ) 2. Read SICP and " the Cathedral and the Bazaar ", ( both of them gave me some insight about what makes programming fun, what to program, how... Concepts basically, SICP will get you up and running when it comes to actually writing code From taking those two steps, if that's really what you want something should spark within you. You will start searching around for those things, strive to go deeper, etc. If nothing happens, maybe that's not for you and you should pursue something else

>>43638 >>43638 Lainanons also pointed out building PCs as a step. This is very complex and can get very expensive if you want to do it yourself, but it's cool too. Now, I will talk a bit of my experience: What got me into searching a lot about "Linux and stuff" ( and that I would consider Tech ) is ricing. My first distro was Arch and I had to bash my head around a lot, and that made me learn some things. As for Hardware side of things: I don't have much money, neither does my family. So with that I had to use old hardware and do it's maintanance. My first Desktop was made from parts I found in the Dumpster ( I use that as my home server ) and the computer I'm using right now is a second handed Thinkpad t440p that's doing well but had some problems that I had to fix. Also having 2 years of Electronics on high school helped a bit lel

>>43562 >Free your software. In what sense? In terms of anything it is free just like anything. Men really do like thinking that they're on a Jail Cell even though there's no bars. >Free your mind. My Mind is always free.

>>42501 >>42548 >>43065 why APL?

>>42455 Sit down. Install a GNU/Linux distro on bare metal. Buy or download the two books "The C Programming Language" and "How Linux works". Mess around with soykaf for a couple months.

>>43664 learning a PL and learning to program are 2 different things. at least when I (>>43065) mentioned it, I meant both: to program because it really helps with understanding/problem-solving, and a language to hone/apply said problem-solving. tl;dr it's a tried-and-true method.

For me it's not anything I've trained for, it's simply a set of knowledge I've acquired from a lifetime of inquisitiveness.

Find a project that focuses on one or two things that you don't know how to do and complete that project. There are all of these textbooks and courses and so on that teach you how to do those, but it's so easy to put them off, or to start and then stop, they are boring, there isn't much incentive or fun in doing them. Instead of taking a course, just find a project that you want to do, something simple but that will cover a topic that you want to know about, and do that project. It will force you to learn most of the concepts anyway, and then afterwards you can go back and learn what you're supposed to learn, but at least you will be motivated because you will have a real thing that you've done. Also focus this project on just one thing at first. The reason I say this is that you're going to learn other tools along the way, even by limiting the scope of this project you will be forced to cover the basics of a lot of related topics. So for example if you want to just have a website online that displays one blog article in a decent way, you're going to have to quickly learn the basics of buying a domain, web hosting, html, css, javascript, and a database if you want to have the data on a database. Then you will want to get SSL, and as you do that all for the first time you will learn it. If you want to learn about hardware, you can get some raspberry pi or microcontroller and make it blink an LED, just by doing that you will learn all of the basics. Once you have the basics down then a lot of the rest seems easy, because you've done it before. You can move onto much more complicated projects because they will be in your grasp. Once you can make it blink an LED you realize you can make it control a servo and a motor or multiple and it's not that different, or attach other modules and it's not that different.

>>42455 >I don't know where to start, how did you guys start >dozens of replies telling op to install gentoo or the equivalent lol I would suggest suggesting like taking the Android course from Google if smartphones don't make you sick to your stomach https://grow.google/androiddev/ The course is free but the certification is behind a pay per exam type deal. I think you can get it free if you're a poor user too.

>>42455 I kinda feel like saying "I'm not good at computers" is kind of a cop out. It depends on what you're trying to do with them. Once you have something in mind then figure out howbto make it work.

>>43562 >stop using a mac with windows i agree, but macs could be a great entry poiint into bash/zsh because its still unix, you can still setup scripts and so on,installing brew and learning to take advantage of your mac's full capability would be more useful in de-inepting yourself than using ubuntu and installing everything via the app store.

>>43664 >why APL? Related, I recall Backus doing experiments which showed function-level program was easier for beginners to learn than traditional languages. >>43475 Just to be clear the reason I made the proposal I did in >>43066 is out of regret of how I spent my childhood which is closer to what you all have suggested than what I have. >Some people are into the hardware of computers rather than software. [I suggest] play around disassembling old electronics and look up hardware manuals. See how everything works and interacts. This is fine so long as you're actually learning something universal. For example if what you actually want to learn is electrical engineering, by god, learn electrical engineering. But actually learn the thing, and don't spend your time unfastening and refastening screws to a machine, or uninstalling and reinstalling parts that can only go in one way, or configuring something that won't even work in a year, and doesn't matter now. If you want to program something to interact with physical electronics that's great! But don't be mistaken the virtue in this activity is in the universal knowledge of programming, and electrical engineering, not in the connection of wires or the copy/pasting of programs, or slight modifications in configuration.