I am a techie. I am mcse and mcdba and I want to learn Linux. I can self teach pretty easy. What do Linux people recommend? And specific book or method? Where do I get started?
Use the Slackware distribution..........................just kidding.
Tell me what are you interested in linux? Basic usage of the GUIs, installation of servers, programming, word processing....??
To start using Linux install a friendly distro like Ubuntu (Unity) or OpenSUSE (KDE) without generating a dual boot you can install Ubuntu like a program in Windows.
Say, you try the Ubuntu distribution, to install it you can check out this simple
.
Some basic programs are installed with the operating system installation like OpenOffice (or LibreOffice) which is a Microsoft Office like package of programs as well as a browser (Firefox) as well as a few music, video, pdf viewers/players so you should be ready to go right after the installation.
For a beginner that uses ubuntu I guess you should use
this online book (pdf) to help/educate/learn yourself how to set up wifi etc. It's really easy and you should be able to use your new OS and its advantages in no time.
If you have any problems you can ask me via pm or jump to the
Ubuntu forum which has a fine beginners community that should help you with your questions/problems.
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That should be enough for starters.
Then later you can try some other things like the linux shell, different desktop managers (linux GUIs), package managers etc.
If you really like to know/learn Linux you should
learn the shell (similar but way more powerful then the MS DOS).
If you are a masochist you will later try out installing other things like some powerful tools like nmap or tools from the back track distributions hehe.