Great point about how creating a tutorial helps with memory. Probably the best way to learn something is to teach it. Forces you to think about how information should be organized and relayed in a way that is best understood. That process results in better memories of the information. Perhaps a little odd, but a lot of the time when I am learning something new, I will pretend like I'm talking to somebody and explain the important concepts to that imaginary person. I always find it helpful for retention and understanding.
Same! Love DokuWiki. No fancy database, just text files, easy to recover if anything should ever go terribly wrong. I document *everything*, no matter how basic it is. Everything about my set-up on my home lab and PCs is fully repeatable because I know every single command I entered into the terminal, every config file modification, you name it. Any binary not pulled off a distro repo gets stashed on my NAS as well so I don't have to go hunting later.
I've been comparing many solutions and found DokuWiki the best for this purpose. Lightweight, granular access if I want to make sth public or share with another user, reasonably usable ui with many plugins available
Hey Linux Cast. I've been in IT in various roles for about 12 years including sysadmin with a fairly large linux infrastructure as well as using Linux as my main os for about 5 years now...my point is? I have to look things up still all the time. There's only so much we can pack into this organic hard disk we call a brain. Great video btw!
Good documentation has saved my bacon a bunch. And learning the basics of git to pull or push from a repo saves time. Useful for configs, notes, backups
Great to hear that comment resonated with you and you've taken meaningful steps to better document things. It was only a couple years ago that I finally started taking it seriously as well. I got tired of messing up somewhere down the line, and needing to start over, but being unable to find the same tutorial or documentation I used the first time. I no longer trust that I'll be able to find such things in the future, or things close enough to my own particular situation. Web searching in general seems like it's gotten so much worse in recent years. So now I make my own tutorials and keep them stored locally and backed up, so that information can never be lost. Especially as I've gotten into things like Raspberry Pi clusters, and use more VMs, and really *need* to have repeatability, having a specific set of detailed steps is an absolute lifesaver. To the extent that you are a "Linux influencer", this is one area where being a good role model can do a lot of good for your viewers, so thank you for making this video and getting the word out. I hope it starts some good conversations in the comments as well.
I used github for this for a bit but i noticed it would only write down very complex stuff, so I now do this in obsidian and its nice that i can tag everything properly. makes searching for things very easy. git is still a very good approach though, well done video!
Matt having a documentation is really a great idea, but for the use case of switching distros a lot I handle it with ansible scripts, you can set them up to basically do anything for you. Mine I have set up to install all the programs that I need for my working environment for Fedora and for Debian based distros. I just run the script when I fresh install a distro, and bang, everything is where is suppose to be and all my software is installed so I can work, they can do pretty much anything really is a great tool for automating these system tasks that we always forget(I always update them when a critical software to my workflow is installed and keep the script on github so I never loose it)
Thank you for relaying a simple and great idea. I also think it would be great to put on what ever cloud based storage you possess, so you can retrieve it in case of computer catastrophe or you cannot be at your computer. Good video, one of your best!
I was like that too, now I have a documentation folder on my home server synced with both my phone and laptop through syncthing (selfhosted). You may want to try selfhosting syncthing, and try to learn markdown (or markup, i dont really know the difference) to format your documents.
An own knowledge base is good to have. There are also good tools/notebook/wiki apps out there to use for this, many of them also encrypted so that nobody can see it, in case you wanna a bit more than only public tutorials.
I've had a folder full of text files on a remote drive with various little modifications i like to make to my linux systems for awhile now. it is a good idea that more computer tinkerers should be doing (if they're not already)
one of the standard pieces of advice I've been giving to people as I help them switch to linux is to write down any command line stuff they end up needing in a notebook or something, so they don't have to look it up again next time they need it. this exact thing is SO real and remembering to keep your own notes makes your QOL so much better.
I also printed some of it. I don't like to look at my phone or laptop to read it if I still don't have a working GUI. For example, to set up BTRFS after set up a partition during the installation.
I've been doing this too, it is very useful. The difference is I keep my .md files in my dropbox and have them synced across all my devices. Not saying my way is better, it just suits my needs better. Awesome advice to develop a habit of writing personal documentation.
I've been using Obsidian to keep notes about Linux ever since I made the switch around 3 years ago. Still have notes about how it took me 26 times to get Arch (the hard way) to properly run, and all the little kernel parameters and other crazy things you need to remember to do to get it to work with your hardware. Any time I work with something new (new distro, new piece of software, new... anything) I create a page and just quickly jot down anything I do so I can remember. I'm sure this will be very useful, even if you ever have to use it once in the future, it's worth it!
You mean having txt files scattered around with stupid names you forgot why you named them that, or what is in them, is a bad idea? I refuse to be swayed by your sensible advice!
I document this kind of things all the time, but more on a local side. I am actually surprised and thought others would do it too. Agreed, everyone should do it; and even I should do it more! Also often scripts are emerging through the notes, which are documentary on their own rights.
I've been doing this, but I've just crammed it all into a text file in my dotfiles repo. Now I'm wondering why I didn't think to do it the way you are! I think I probably will now.
Hello, i watched your very nice "Organize Your Notes with Zim Wiki" video from 2020-10-11 a few days ago, because i started using zim as a personal wiki. Do you stopped using Zim or is there another reason for not using it for documentation and as a knowledge base with the Version Control Plugin?
Gitlab has a snippet feature that you can use. You can also use text expander or alternative to write down common commands. Also, what happened with user scripts? When I need to execute something often I just create a script that will do it for me. I think the git way of storing documentation will eventually cause enough friction to be annoying and left unused.
What is the "friction" of text files that can be easily parsed with grep and awk? It's literally the easiest electronic data format to use. Git allows for having copies of the data on multiple devices and be in-sync as long as the system can reach a git server. Snippets on Gitlab or Gist on Github ties you to requiring access to those services, whereas a git repo clone can be local to the system.
@@MrSnivvel The issue is the effort that you put into such documents and retieving them will outweight the method of actually going to gtp or searching it within history or just open an article and see the command there. For the Gitlab I agree, there is always tradeoff.
@@user-dc9zo7ek5j You're Chatgpt solution requires an Internet connection, far more keyboard typing, and a level of faith that the solution provided is valid (both as a whole and specific to your use case). Searching your CLI history and text files both use grep or similar tools. There's also the situation where writing the process out makes it easier to remember in the first place and is easier to put down notes as to why things should be done that way, e.g. your particular hardware requires specific command line or kernel parameters or other such local specifics that Chatgpt would never be aware of.
I can't remember a face, a birthday, or a due date. I don't even have a favorite food or movie because I forget them too quickly. But I never forget a procedure that I've seen performed in person or done myself.
The funny thing is that I will think I've forgotten how to do things like add users to groups, then I just do it. I've forgot more about Linux/UNIX than a lot of folks know. It happens as we age, some things just get flushed. I started taking notes because of this. Now my mantra is like Dr. Jones Sr. ... I write things down so I don't have to remember them. I should commit the directory of text files I have on my NAS to my github account, I'm just lazy AF.
I used to do that and the simple answer is that you won't have all notes on the same device ever. Even if you do copy them, updating them requires you to update ALL copies, which is a pain to do manually. Having a centralized solution online means updating only once and always having it available should any of your devices stop working.
@@sheepless_ram Also, the notes can be updated from any device and, because git is inherently decentralized, data can be replicated into another Git server easily if Gitlab is no longer wanted or usable.
what would be nice would be all the documentation and correct way of things too and concise as well of all commands and what it does all in one app thats searchable and readable like a book to, having it all separate is way way too messy. Be nice to have a dictionary/manual like that all in one place.
Ive been adding the rare commands that i dont use often to a rofi menu. I select it and have it write out to the terminal.. if it requires dynamic stuff i just review the command in the rofi menu
Add the common commands too. You never know when you might suddenly stop doing something for a while, and the common stuff suddenly becomes rare and forgotten. And frankly documenting everything should be a habit you get into. Documenting things helps improve your memory, too.
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i use CherryTree, all my documentation is there, all documentation is synchronized between computers via Syncthing, so as not to lose
I have been using linux since 2004. I forget how to use things i don’t do often all the time! If you don’t use it, you lose it!
Great point about how creating a tutorial helps with memory. Probably the best way to learn something is to teach it. Forces you to think about how information should be organized and relayed in a way that is best understood. That process results in better memories of the information. Perhaps a little odd, but a lot of the time when I am learning something new, I will pretend like I'm talking to somebody and explain the important concepts to that imaginary person. I always find it helpful for retention and understanding.
I've been keeping documentation for myself in a self hosted instance of dokuwiki that runs as a docker container.
Same! Love DokuWiki. No fancy database, just text files, easy to recover if anything should ever go terribly wrong. I document *everything*, no matter how basic it is. Everything about my set-up on my home lab and PCs is fully repeatable because I know every single command I entered into the terminal, every config file modification, you name it. Any binary not pulled off a distro repo gets stashed on my NAS as well so I don't have to go hunting later.
I just save all the documents in a git repo
I've been comparing many solutions and found DokuWiki the best for this purpose. Lightweight, granular access if I want to make sth public or share with another user, reasonably usable ui with many plugins available
@markjones2349 looking forward to your tutorial 😉
Hey Linux Cast. I've been in IT in various roles for about 12 years including sysadmin with a fairly large linux infrastructure as well as using Linux as my main os for about 5 years now...my point is? I have to look things up still all the time. There's only so much we can pack into this organic hard disk we call a brain. Great video btw!
Good documentation has saved my bacon a bunch. And learning the basics of git to pull or push from a repo saves time. Useful for configs, notes, backups
Great to hear that comment resonated with you and you've taken meaningful steps to better document things. It was only a couple years ago that I finally started taking it seriously as well. I got tired of messing up somewhere down the line, and needing to start over, but being unable to find the same tutorial or documentation I used the first time. I no longer trust that I'll be able to find such things in the future, or things close enough to my own particular situation. Web searching in general seems like it's gotten so much worse in recent years. So now I make my own tutorials and keep them stored locally and backed up, so that information can never be lost.
Especially as I've gotten into things like Raspberry Pi clusters, and use more VMs, and really *need* to have repeatability, having a specific set of detailed steps is an absolute lifesaver.
To the extent that you are a "Linux influencer", this is one area where being a good role model can do a lot of good for your viewers, so thank you for making this video and getting the word out. I hope it starts some good conversations in the comments as well.
Been taking extensive notes whenever I can be bothered and moreso since switching a main machine to debian. Notes are essential!
I used github for this for a bit but i noticed it would only write down very complex stuff, so I now do this in obsidian and its nice that i can tag everything properly. makes searching for things very easy. git is still a very good approach though, well done video!
Matt having a documentation is really a great idea, but for the use case of switching distros a lot I handle it with ansible scripts, you can set them up to basically do anything for you. Mine I have set up to install all the programs that I need for my working environment for Fedora and for Debian based distros. I just run the script when I fresh install a distro, and bang, everything is where is suppose to be and all my software is installed so I can work, they can do pretty much anything really is a great tool for automating these system tasks that we always forget(I always update them when a critical software to my workflow is installed and keep the script on github so I never loose it)
I have the same issue. When i write it down with pen and paper i remember it more easly.
Thank you for relaying a simple and great idea. I also think it would be great to put on what ever cloud based storage you possess, so you can retrieve it in case of computer catastrophe or you cannot be at your computer. Good video, one of your best!
I was like that too, now I have a documentation folder on my home server synced with both my phone and laptop through syncthing (selfhosted).
You may want to try selfhosting syncthing, and try to learn markdown (or markup, i dont really know the difference) to format your documents.
A Dropbox-synchronized local text file is also useful.
An own knowledge base is good to have. There are also good tools/notebook/wiki apps out there to use for this, many of them also encrypted so that nobody can see it, in case you wanna a bit more than only public tutorials.
I've had a folder full of text files on a remote drive with various little modifications i like to make to my linux systems for awhile now. it is a good idea that more computer tinkerers should be doing (if they're not already)
Drew is just a Linux guy.
Great idea!!
one of the standard pieces of advice I've been giving to people as I help them switch to linux is to write down any command line stuff they end up needing in a notebook or something, so they don't have to look it up again next time they need it. this exact thing is SO real and remembering to keep your own notes makes your QOL so much better.
I did the same but with the GitLab"s Snippets feature but also have a copy on my Trilium instance.
I also printed some of it. I don't like to look at my phone or laptop to read it if I still don't have a working GUI. For example, to set up BTRFS after set up a partition during the installation.
for this i use Obsidian , man it save me a lot .
I have an alias to more or less list my aliases.
A command to show what commands I have made to run my commands.
I've been doing this too, it is very useful. The difference is I keep my .md files in my dropbox and have them synced across all my devices. Not saying my way is better, it just suits my needs better. Awesome advice to develop a habit of writing personal documentation.
I've been using Obsidian to keep notes about Linux ever since I made the switch around 3 years ago. Still have notes about how it took me 26 times to get Arch (the hard way) to properly run, and all the little kernel parameters and other crazy things you need to remember to do to get it to work with your hardware. Any time I work with something new (new distro, new piece of software, new... anything) I create a page and just quickly jot down anything I do so I can remember. I'm sure this will be very useful, even if you ever have to use it once in the future, it's worth it!
another option is to use nix, only do it once, and have your code as your own documentation.
I use notable for this. I keep its files in a directory shared with my other computers by syncthing.
You mean having txt files scattered around with stupid names you forgot why you named them that, or what is in them, is a bad idea? I refuse to be swayed by your sensible advice!
What's with this weird stuttery noise in the background ?
Shit audio. I'm working on it.
I never really thought of that. Smart! I got a lot of commands and how to do things. I have it on my usb drive but I have to do that. Thx Matt!
I document this kind of things all the time, but more on a local side. I am actually surprised and thought others would do it too. Agreed, everyone should do it; and even I should do it more!
Also often scripts are emerging through the notes, which are documentary on their own rights.
I've been doing this, but I've just crammed it all into a text file in my dotfiles repo. Now I'm wondering why I didn't think to do it the way you are! I think I probably will now.
Hello, i watched your very nice "Organize Your Notes with Zim Wiki" video from 2020-10-11 a few days ago, because i started using zim as a personal wiki. Do you stopped using Zim or is there another reason for not using it for documentation and as a knowledge base with the Version Control Plugin?
That's what I used the Templates directory for.
I use a github repo and then publish the markdown with hugo to a website so don't have to navigate the github ui to read everthing
Gitlab has a snippet feature that you can use. You can also use text expander or alternative to write down common commands. Also, what happened with user scripts? When I need to execute something often I just create a script that will do it for me. I think the git way of storing documentation will eventually cause enough friction to be annoying and left unused.
What is the "friction" of text files that can be easily parsed with grep and awk? It's literally the easiest electronic data format to use. Git allows for having copies of the data on multiple devices and be in-sync as long as the system can reach a git server. Snippets on Gitlab or Gist on Github ties you to requiring access to those services, whereas a git repo clone can be local to the system.
@@MrSnivvel The issue is the effort that you put into such documents and retieving them will outweight the method of actually going to gtp or searching it within history or just open an article and see the command there. For the Gitlab I agree, there is always tradeoff.
@@user-dc9zo7ek5j You're Chatgpt solution requires an Internet connection, far more keyboard typing, and a level of faith that the solution provided is valid (both as a whole and specific to your use case). Searching your CLI history and text files both use grep or similar tools. There's also the situation where writing the process out makes it easier to remember in the first place and is easier to put down notes as to why things should be done that way, e.g. your particular hardware requires specific command line or kernel parameters or other such local specifics that Chatgpt would never be aware of.
I leave a comment in my config files - where and how to . I marked them as "educational configs " - I forget sometimes things like columbo
I can't remember a face, a birthday, or a due date. I don't even have a favorite food or movie because I forget them too quickly. But I never forget a procedure that I've seen performed in person or done myself.
I already do this for all my technical stuff
Sounds like you could really do with Logseq.
The funny thing is that I will think I've forgotten how to do things like add users to groups, then I just do it. I've forgot more about Linux/UNIX than a lot of folks know. It happens as we age, some things just get flushed.
I started taking notes because of this. Now my mantra is like Dr. Jones Sr. ... I write things down so I don't have to remember them. I should commit the directory of text files I have on my NAS to my github account, I'm just lazy AF.
I have an open cloud instance whith all those md thinhs
Why not make interactive scripts to do this?
What do you use your note taking app for. It's for that purpose, isn't it?😇
Why in Git? Why not in Joplin since you recently reviewed, or another note taking app?
I used to do that and the simple answer is that you won't have all notes on the same device ever. Even if you do copy them, updating them requires you to update ALL copies, which is a pain to do manually. Having a centralized solution online means updating only once and always having it available should any of your devices stop working.
Because Joplin started deleting my notes, so I don't use it
@@sheepless_ram Also, the notes can be updated from any device and, because git is inherently decentralized, data can be replicated into another Git server easily if Gitlab is no longer wanted or usable.
how did you know?
what would be nice would be all the documentation and correct way of things too and concise as well of all commands and what it does all in one app thats searchable and readable like a book to, having it all separate is way way too messy. Be nice to have a dictionary/manual like that all in one place.
That Drew guy sounds kinda lame 😊. Regardless, nice job my friend.
You misspelled awesome.
Hyprland ?
@@user-hh4br5tk5p yes
For me opening Google/GPT would be faster than thinking of I have note for something.
Grep
@@eps-nx8zg This guy greps.
Your memory clearly disqualifies you as president of the USA :)
Ive been adding the rare commands that i dont use often to a rofi menu. I select it and have it write out to the terminal.. if it requires dynamic stuff i just review the command in the rofi menu
Add the common commands too. You never know when you might suddenly stop doing something for a while, and the common stuff suddenly becomes rare and forgotten. And frankly documenting everything should be a habit you get into. Documenting things helps improve your memory, too.
Path in cron?
Vi command: read ! echo PATH=${PATH}
Ive been using linux since 2004. I forget how to do stuff i don’t do often all the time! If you don’t use it, you lose it!