Mic Q,

As for resources, books and stuff, Linux is a combination of "many" distrobutions; RedHat, SuSE, Debian, Mandrake, the list goes on and on, and then, add into these "main" distro's, the fact that anyone can create there own "hybrid" of these distro's, like Knoppix and Kanotix, etc... and the list goes almost endlessly...

I read the "Blue Screen of Death" book, it was a good "starter" book... If you dont mind doing a little "translation" of the commands, or the terminology, just look for ANY "linux" book - I picked up a good Linux System Administrator book, true, it was written from running a RedHat distro, but, a lot of the commands are "standard" in a linux install. It gave me more info on server packages, setup, installing, and background, on what you would be running, and how. Not to mention all the "sniffer" security commands to keep your system as secure as you can...

Just look for a "Linux" book, you may not find a book specific to your distro, unless you are running one of the "MAIN" Linux OS's, you can always "soak up" the good stuff, and translate it to what distro you are running... Like RedHat, I think thats the one, uses RPM for its package installing, whereas, Debian uses the "apt" process - if the book is based on running RedHat, it will talk about using a RPM get / install process to get your packages, but you just change the RPM to DEB, and the package program from "whatever" to "APT"...

Linux is really not that difficult, not as you may think - its just different. Its new, and can be seen as "alien" to anyone. But, you have to start somewhere. You probably had the same "feelings" the first time you ran Windows, I know I did... But, the more you use something, the more you learn how to use it, how to get around, and how to do what you want to do, in it.

I've ran DOS, Win3.x, Win95, and Win98 - my thinking on Linux was seriously, like a TEXT OS, and found, with the help of Knoppix, my thinking was unfounded. After over 15 years of Windows, with no information on Linux, in just under a year, I am starting to "forget" what I knew in Windows, and am starting to think in "Linux" now... You learn what "files" you need to work with, what they contain, and what they change. You learn what commands you use, for what, and why. You learn what programs you use, for what, why, and what they are used for. For me, I learn by "total emersion", so, I ditched my Windows, installed Knoppix, and started learning, I had to, if I wanted to get my system the way I thought it would be in Windows. For me, it worked, and this forum helped emensely ( considering a majority of the "post count" I have has been in questions on "how do I do this?" stuff ).

I now think in Linux, not Windows. I process commands, and programs, in Linux. I do everything in Linux, now. Yeah, it took time, but, I think it was worth it. Linux, to me, has been "empowering" to me, and my system. I have "complete" control over my system, whereas, with Windows, I felt it was more in control than I was, letting me do a few things here, and a few things there, but never giving me "complete" control. If I feel that something is amiss, even down at the OS level, I can scream through the source code on my Kernel, and see if anyone has done anything, if I want, I can. You cant do that with Windows, GOD forbid, mighty Redmond Microsoft, would allow such a serious breach of secure code to be seen by the "public"... ( come to think of it, I dont think I would ever want to look at the source code for any Windows OS, if the OS is that unstable, insecure, etc... the code must reflect it, imho )

Oh well, Mic Q, sorry to hear that Knoppix isnt going to work on your older system, hopefully you find some distro that will work for you, and, I hope, you can get a good Linux running. Linux is the best ( imho ), it has its issues, but at least the majority of them arent in the VIRUS, Security Patch, buggy, pot-holed security area. 97% of the security updates I get from "Debian's security" allerts are in packages that I dont even run, and the ones I do run, mostly, are from being a "server", and having "remote access" to your system, which I dont have them enabled, and a good firewall...

Reminds me of a good "Linux" T-shirt I saw on "thinkgeek.com" - basically taking a "poke" at the Windows World: Have you applied your security patches today?

Linux is different, that is for sure, it has a little "learning curve" to it, but not any more than anything "new" does. Linux is also better than anything else, on one more count. What makes Linux better, than say, Windows, is, that it is built on the knowledge and tallents of many "engenious" people. These people "volunteer" there time, and talents, to the future of Linux. They write the programs, the packages, the kernel, and they test, and they run, Linux. These people can be "contacted", and are within "touch" with the people who run what they create. I think that has its advantages. I also think that Linux has a lot of great people behind it, beside it, and running in front of it, from those who create it, to those who support it. Just try to get in contact with the "guy" who wrote the "dial-up connection" code for Windows, yeah, like that is ever going to happen - in Linux, its in the code, direct, and accountable, and best of all, these "creators" want to hear from people who find problems with something they created. ( Microsoft "really" doesnt want to hear from lil'ol me, they would just shine me over, besides, they would just tell me that it "might" be fixed in the next security update, anyway )

Funny thing is, I wouldn't be surprised that M$ runs something other than Windows on its systems... Do they "honestly" have to apply there own security patches, or fend off all the VIRI attacks like the rest of us? I dont think so... So, why does the "general" public have to, then?

Ok, one last "poke" at M$, from computergear.com ( a T-shirt )
USE THE BEST
Linux for servers
Macintosh for graphics
Palm for mobility
Windows for solitaire

I'm gone,
Ms. Cuddles