[contingencies]

Unix evolved in an age of batch processing.

Files were the default datastore, and text streams the default inter-process interface.

Although the world is changing, a surprising amount of it still operates through those tools.

A good way to understand the tooling is to do one of the Linux from scratch or similar projects, perhaps look at swapping out some tools for self-written alternatives, and scratching your own itch building projects that solve problems you have yourself.

Most people who reach a degree of proficiency in shell also have an innate understanding of the kernel's general organization, the nature of filesystems, the boot process, database types, are capable of programming in multiple languages, comoprehend network programming and the challenges of locking and distributed state, and so on. You can't learn all of it in one go, so just leverage that interest and enthusiasm and devote the time.