I am also working on increasing my "Administrative" quality Linux skills so I can get some more Linux boxes on our network. I don't work for VMWare although this will probably sound like a sales pitch. *sigh* VMWare is a great tool for setting up test networks that will not mess with your current setup. I have a machine with 2GB of RAM (1GB will still let you setup a few virtual machines) where I setup my test machines. If you've never used VMWare you can download a trial that will work for 30-45 days to see if you like it. A few of my favorite features in VMWare: * Setup small network (Can be totally seperate from your network, handy when testing DHCP.) * Snapshots (Ability to revert to the snapshot when you muck something up, not that you would, but just in case.) * Clones (I just found this feature the other week, you can clone a machine and get a multiple machine network up faster, there is even an option where it uses the files from the main clone to save disk space.) * Windows - Linux - Mac OS X (comming soon to intel macs) I also agree with those that say to use Linux as your main operating system. Try out a few Distros and have some fun. Distros are like fruit, they are all tasty in some way and you'll find your favorite. http://www.vmware.com I am currently reading Windows & Linux Integration published by Sybex. It sets up an example network with a Linux Server and Workstation and Windows Server and Workstation and goes from there. I find it a good book since I understand the Windows side of the equation, but not so much the LInux side. Jason Reynolds On 8/14/06, Tipsy-in_Chicago Tipsy <tipsy_in_chicago at yahoo.com> wrote: > > Hello, > > I am an absolute newbie to the world of Linux. I am interested in > developing linux administrative skills. > > Is self learning the best route? If so, any books that will be helpful? > > I am also open to taking classes. > > Kindly, get back to me with the best approach. > > > Thanks > > KT > > > ------------------------------ > Do you Yahoo!? > Get on board. You're invited<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt@791/*http://advision.webevents.yahoo.com/handraisers>to try the new Yahoo! Mail Beta. > > > _______________________________________________ > TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota > tclug-list at mn-linux.org > http://mailman.mn-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list > > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mailman.mn-linux.org/pipermail/tclug-list/attachments/20060815/4c168f56/attachment.htm