Linux

Linux is a free, open-source operating system kernel first released by Linus Torvalds in 1991. It powers everything from personal laptops and servers to Android phones, embedded devices, and most of the internet’s infrastructure. Unlike Windows or macOS, Linux comes in many distributions — Debian, Ubuntu, Arch, Fedora, RHEL, and more — each targeting different use cases and user preferences.

What makes Linux valuable for technical work is the depth of control it gives you. The command line, process model, file system hierarchy, and networking stack are all accessible and well-documented. Understanding Linux well translates directly into better debugging, faster administration, and more confident system design.

What you’ll find here

This site covers Linux from a practical, hands-on angle — things that come up in real work rather than textbook exercises.

Command line and shell — core commands like grep, sed, awk, and find, plus shell scripting with Bash. There’s also a Linux Command Line Survival Guide if you’re getting started.

System administration — tasks like enabling SSH, managing services with systemd, checking disk space, monitoring memory usage, and working with processes.

Networking — Linux networking fundamentals, checking open ports, transferring files over SSH, and configuring interfaces with systemd-networkd.

Distributions — install guides and notes for Arch Linux, Manjaro, Rocky Linux, and Pop!_OS, plus coverage of RHEL/CentOS alternatives.

Text editing — practical Vim usage including the VIM cheat sheet and getting in and out without losing your work.

Videos

The written guides on this site are paired with hands-on video walkthroughs on the Low Orbit Flux YouTube channel. The goal is the same as the articles — real installs, real output, no filler. Below are a few examples of the kind of Linux content you’ll find there.

Installing Nvidia drivers on Arch Linux is one of those tasks that trips people up — the steps aren’t hard but the order matters and the details differ by GPU generation. This walkthrough covers it end to end:

Choosing a distribution is one of the first real decisions new Linux users face. This video compares Linux Mint and Ubuntu directly — who each one is actually for, and what the day-to-day differences look like:

Linux From Scratch is a project that has you build a working Linux system entirely from source. It’s not a daily driver — it’s a learning exercise, and a serious one. This video covers the experience of actually going through it: