How to deal with problems of various sizes in Linux on your own?

Question

linux

I like Linux, but one way or another, in the process of using it, I periodically encounter various minor problems: either the conditional touchpad does not work as it should, and the setting according to the documentation on the wiki does not give any results, then when X starts a second before , as WM loads, some errors begin to fly (which did not prevent the launch of X, but as they say in one bearded anecdote, "the sediment remained")
And we will make a reservation right away, I know how to use a search engine and we are talking about situations where the problem of interest is either not googled , or none of the solutions found worked.
So, when none of the solutions work, I go to the forums, and there smart guys (after indicating who I am and what I am) magically, in a couple of commands, solve the problem that has arisen.

In this regard, the following questions: Do you have any algorithm that you mentally go through when a problem occurs? And where is the necessary minimum that is needed in order to, if not solve the problem on your own, then at least fly into the forums immediately providing the maximum information necessary for solving?

Answer 1

Practice.
Only practice. Which is developed by years of hard work. Many - very many issues in Linux are solved only on their own with Google for a couple, and Google here acts precisely as a search engine that is looking for something related to the topic.
For example. One day I decided to "broaden my horizons" and put something new with blackjack and girls instead of the old EL6. And since I hate systemd - the choice turned out to be rather limited and I settled on Calcualte Linux (a Russian fork of Genta with its own bells and whistles). Yes, this is a rather rash decision, but still I have many years of FreeBSD administration under my belt.
So what? A normal understanding of how "this [beep][beep][beep] horse" works" came in my opinion after the fourth reinstallation :) Well, that is, after I killed the system with my actions, rearranged it and killed it again ...
Patience , knowledge of English, and Google in the teeth ...

Answer 2

Great question!!!
In my opinion (25 years with different Unixes), a minimal understanding of how the system starts, how the kernel and modules, syslog, plus users/files/permissions work is important. Plus PAM. And, of course, a minimal understanding of TCP\IP.
Everything else can be sorted out.
PS:
- "Everything else" - except for the GUI :-) .
- Alas, Linux itself has become more confusing in recent years. I mean - 20 years ago there was a config file that controlled network settings, today go figure out the relationships of network manager and a dozen other add-ons.