I have some basic experience but I wanna be proficient and have a cli based workflow; I’m currently on Arch with GNOME
Just start doing things using it and lookup how to do things you don’t know. Enough time and you’ll be good at it.
So there is no like FOSS course on how to be cli proficient
Linux Journey is a good one for the basics. But I would agree with the other commentors here, and say the best thing you can do for yourself is to just use it day to day.
I once heard something about learning other languages. Your brain has two methods of learning, one is the academic, and another is practical. When you learn something purely academic, your brain isn’t prioritizing it as much, but if you’re doing it daily, and you need to be able to do it, then your brain goes “oh man, I better pick this up quick” and starts kicking more of your subconscious power into learning it. I think using the command line is going to be a similar deal.
“cli proficient” depends entirely on what you are doing, other than extremely basic stuff like learning how to use coreutils, really you just gotta try and use it whenever you can to get used to it.
There are a ton of them.
Unplug your mouse. Seriously. Do it. It might sound like the “kicking and screaming” method but you’ll learn to rely on your keyboard even for GUI tools and you’ll vastly improve how fast you navigate your computer. You should find yourself more and more in the terminal, obviously, but you may learn also some nice tricks with everything else.
Solid advice.
It boggles my mind how few people use hot keys and ALT to navigate menus. Something that has probably been a standard on computers since as long as I have been around (the 70’s) …
practice. practice. practice. Just keep at it. Compile the things you need from source and work through the problems until they are solved. Most CLI programs follow a common set of conventions which you just have to build an intuition for over time. You are learning a new language and immersion is key. Also, the CLI is merely the interface. The system is akin to the culture. There are whole set of idioms which have to be learned over time.
Focus maybe on some CLI tools, like text editor. I use Vim, it was pain to learn but been worth it, since you don’t have to leave the keyboard for anything. Once you learn the layout you can use it in other IDEs that also, many have plugins or built in support for Vim layout (JetBrains IDEs do) so I can use the same key map in desktop apps to do C# and C++, etc…
Also use Vim Mode that mode in the https://obsidian.md/. Which is great since you can also use Vim in the CLI to edit the Markdown Files.
Good Vim Cheat Sheet, bit confusing but as you get use to VIM it makes more sense.
http://materials.ucsd.edu/doc/vim_cheat_sheet_for_programmers_screen.pdfAlso this book is pretty handy, the 3rd edition dropped GUI apps and focuses 100% on CLI.
https://linuxpocketguide.com/
Handy if you have a Steam Deck also.
Get use to navigating the file system. Know where you are, where you want to go and how to get there. After that, start following guides on installing things manually just for fun. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve installed Arch Linux in a VM from scratch for fun. Lol. The Arch Wiki is your friend and can be used even if you stop using arch for certain things.
I recommend replacing GUI apps that you use one by one with CLI apps, I started by changing my file manager to ranger. Don’t rush or you may get overwhelmed and don’t interrupt your workflow too much. Next I started using media players, video editors, and even steamcmd to launch games, try to find a replacement for GUI apps searching online. This list is a good place to start;
Switch to Gentoo. Either your command-line abilities will improve, or you will run screaming into the night before you manage to get X (or Wayland) up and running. 😜
Trial by fire!
Try to install arch without archinstall and look on the arch wiki and set up everything up in the terminal(sound, wifi, file managment, etc). When you get stuck just use google or the arch wiki(stay away from ubuntu guides bc they are usually copy and paste). If you understand the base tools try writing bash scripts to automate tasks that you do in your workflow. Good luck!
Lots of people are suggesting using TUI applications.
While I don’t disagree that will make you more comfortable spending time in the terminal, you’re not really getting better at the command line (CLI).
I recommend you learn the basics of how the shell works. This is a good resource: https://effective-shell.com/
When i first started woking at a Unix maker… my task for my first 2 months was to know and document every file in /etc, /usr/bin/ and /bin…
After that month, my mentor ask me …
what /usr/bin/ldd does ? and show me an example.
Here are some resources that might help:
- https://github.com/jlevy/the-art-of-command-line
- https://sanctum.geek.nz/arabesque/series/unix-as-ide/
- https://missing.csail.mit.edu/
For scripting, keep these links handy:
- https://mywiki.wooledge.org/BashFAQ and https://mywiki.wooledge.org/BashPitfalls
- https://www.shellcheck.net/
Also, +1 for Linux Journey mentioned in another comment.
@LynnTheChaoticWitch you could try some games to help you learn if you like gamified methods.
what do you mean with “CLI based workflow”? If it’s about not using the gnome utilities like wifi, just check the arch wiki, pretty much everything is explained in there
First thing I’d do is ditch the GUI file manager: get comfortable with cd, ls, mv, rm, etc.
After that, maybe start with basic text manipulation, like grep, awk, sort, uniq, etc. This ties in nicely with IO redirection, which is essential for a “CLI based workflow.” Get comfortable with pipes and file redirection, it’s extremely powerful!
Writing shell scripts is another super useful exercise: any time you find yourself running the same set of commands multiple times, think about making it a shell script. You may end up with some really useful little custom tools that way.
Linuxcommand.org is a great start
