Linux Command Line - From Zero to Expert

Course details

This course is for you if you are new to the Linux Command Line but want to learn it without all the headaches. Linux command line is a cross-cutting skill.  If you are comfortable with the command line, you can learn a lot of different skills very quickly and with minimal hassle.  After taking this course, you will be all set to work with highly useful concepts such as Linux System Administration, setting up architectures for Machine Learning and Deep Learning, work with systems that enable VoIP and many many more areas.

In this course, we will start from scratch. This is a very applied course, so we will immediately start with the command line! We will explain everything through the commands and not bore you with dull slides. In fact, there isn't a single slide in this course!

If you have never worked with Linux before (or installed it), this course will show you how to set it up in a Virtual Machine with minimal effort. If you already have Linux or Mac, you can use that too. Then, we will start from zero and get you up to the level of expert without dumping too many commands on you.

We take a case study-based approach and motivate why we need the commands we're learning. If there is a command that is typically taught in courses but isn't used too often, we skip it so that you learn only the stuff that will be useful to you.

In this course, we aim to give you the feel of the rhythm behind the command line so that you are in the position to understand the philosophy behind the command line and use it to your advantage. Through this approach, we can cover the whole spectrum in less than 3 hours.

There is also a real-time chat system in place for students who enroll in this course. With a free signup, you get access to real-time chat with myself and fellow students who are working to complete this course (or have completed the course before you). We plan on creating this network of like-minded experts who can help each other out and collaborate on exciting ideas together.

What will I learn?

• Basics of the command line 
• Working with files and directories from the command line (and understand why you would want to do that in the first place)
• Applying the commands to solve real problems instead of made-up issues
• Understand how very simple and easy-to-understand commands work together to solve much bigger and important problems
• Know keyboard shortcuts that will save you a lot of time and effort when working with the command line
• Perform operations that simply cannot be done in the Graphical User Interfaces
• Follow a case study that shows how the command line can be used to download a complete YouTube playlist (and learn quite a few commands along the way)
• Work with the extremely powerful vi editor and understand why people are so crazy about it (and how it can be useful to you)
• Learn how the professionals make their command lines look cool (and again, learn a few commands along the way)

About the instructor:

• Teacher and researcher by profession
• PhD in Security and a PostDoc from Max Planck Institute for Software Systems, Germany
• 17+ years of working with computers and 15+ years of teaching experience 
• 10+ years of working professionally as a Linux System Administrator/VoIP DevOp -- including 5+ years of provable track record on UpWork (with 5.0 star rating there)

Target Audience:

Anyone who:

• Wants to know why the command line is a necessary tool for anyone working with computers   
• Has never worked with Linux and wants to know what the fuss is all about 
• Has worked with Linux or needs to do so but has been avoiding the command line

What you need to know before starting:

• No prerequisites are assumed.
• You can take this course even if you have never worked with Linux before.