Getting comfortable.
WHAT PUTS PEOPLE OFF
No visual feedback Unforgiving mistakes Terse error messages Fear of breaking something
WHAT ADDRESSES EACH
Practising on a machine that does not matter Reading before running Checking with a harmless command first Keeping backups
WHAT HARMLESS COMMANDS TO REACH FOR
ls before rm A dry run before rsync A find without an action, before adding one cat or less before editing
WHY THAT HABIT IS THE WHOLE SKILL
It converts irreversible actions into checked ones.
WHAT TO LEARN TO READ
Error messages, completely.
WHY
They usually say exactly what is wrong.
WHAT TO ACCEPT
That you will not remember most commands, and will look them up forever.
WHAT EXPERIENCED ADMINISTRATORS ACTUALLY KNOW
Where to look What questions to ask What is dangerous
WHAT THEY DO NOT
Remember every option.
WHAT TO BUILD
Your own notes, of things you looked up.
WHAT TO MEASURE PROGRESS BY
Whether you diagnose methodically rather than trying things.
WHAT TO PRACTISE UNTIL IT IS AUTOMATIC
Checking which machine you are on.
