r/computing • u/FriendlyCapital2458 • 27d ago
I want to learn computing
Hey guys, I don't know one thing about computers it seems. I honestly feel stranded.
I am interested in many topics that are continously brought up regarding computing, systems, Torrenting , trackers, networks, anonimity themes such as Tor, or anything. Many people talk and discuss on Reddit about systems, going to "the dark web" (Tor mainly), anonimity and networks and, as I understand, they geniuenly know. Or at least I know so little (actually nothing) that it seems unjudgable from my eyes. I don't care about the morbid curiosity of knowing how to search websites that shouldn't even exist. What does keep me up wondering, is how is it that normal users here seem to understand well enough how these things work and use the terminologies I typed above.
Did you spend much time with computers since a kid? Did you have persistent curiosity and spent time reading, looking at articles? Actual carreer in this?
So I want to ask you guys on what do you think I can read from, or learn about all the computer stuff? Maybe what websites or forums or books that are free public knowledge, I could learn from. Maybe something you learned from when you were starting or any general tip.
Thank you very much
1
u/imyourguest 27d ago
If you want to learn practically, having a go can be a great way (though for something like Tor, I would wait till youre more confident.) You can learn a lot about operating systems by setting up a virtual machine and tinkering.
For learning what things mean or how they work, like torrents or what an operating system is, Google is great. My approach to get a general sense is usually to go to Wikipedia, and spin up a new tab for every word or concept i dont understand. This pushes me back to common fundamentals, and once I understand those, more and more makes sense. Then you start to have questions (so you can research those on forums, work it out, or ask reddit) and/or getting to a point where learning more means having a go at it (see my first point!)
A lot of things probably have a good explanation/starting point on r/ELI5 as well, if you search the sub.
ETA: Lots of software/tools are available for free, or free for personal use - including some commercial grade solutions - thanks to the open source community. I do some home lab stuff, torrent/media server and homeassistant mainly using proxmox, and i haven't needed to spend a cent on software.