Getting used to linux again

("straight to the point" version at bottom)
Long version-
I've been the poster child of Microsoft (or whatever the fuck you guys call them now) for... I dunno, 5 years? 14-19 years old give or take. From DOS to Vista.

My current programming job was coding ASP classic on a win2k server with mssql server 2000. Now I'm coding C# for asp.net. So in other words, total ms groupie.

Now, say what you will, I actually try not to be very closed minded, so a couple years ago, then again a year ago, I gave linux a shot... several times, several distros:
-(open)SuSE (32 and 64 bit)
(32) I liked this as far as linux goes, but I really don't like Gnome, so I installed KDE instead. MASSIVE memory leaks occurred, couldn't diagnose, got rid of it.
(64) Only 64 bit linux distro that I got to work stably, but I got a new HDD, and decided not to reinstall when I transferred everything.

-K/X/Ubuntu (32 and 64 bit)
(32) Easy enough to use... Until you try to go beyond the newbie boundries. Software that's not in the repository? Have fun installing three development environments and hunting down libs! I must've broken these distros at least 6 times just trying to install too many things that weren't in the repo.
(64) 64 bit ran so terribly and unstably I just lol'd and reformatted the partition within the hour. Then again I've heard some bad things about my CPU (intel core 2) in regards to compatibility, so I wouldn't be too quick to blame the distro.

-Debian
Didn't support my motherboard at the time

-PCLinuxOS
Probably my favorite one, I actually used this in junction with windows for a few months before getting curious about other distros. Unfortunately it has no 64 bit support.

-DSL
Nice for older computers, hasn't come in handy much.

-Knoppix
As much as it's praised for recovery, I'd have to say I've only been able to make use of this for diagnosing network issues and grabbing files from passworded ntfs directories. Beyond that I've been able to manage my diagnosis's, repairs, and recoveries in windows just fine.

-Fedorah core (64 bit)
Installer froze, I was nowhere near ready messing around with that bag of tricks.

So as a windows power user, and someone who's given the alternative an honest shot, the advantages I've observed are existant but small, I wouldn't go back anytime soon for my own purposes. But, I like to be well rounded and available to help in my tech duties. So I think I'll give it yet another shot, but maybe with a little background, some research, y'know?


Straight to the point:
Windows guy giving Linux (yet) another shot, requesting sources of generic guides or other sources of information for someone looking to get comfortable with some of the non-layman aspects of Linux. Not looking to develop or anything, but I'd like to be able to use, troubleshoot, and maybe even have an occasional moment of "oh hay, I should set this file/print server or old computer in Linux".

#45, we're largely in agreement.  Except for 1.44MB bootdisks, or industrial apps which just "sit in the corner" and run one specific app for a machine or sensor, computers are powerful enough these days to run GUIs just fine, and we should run them.  For example, I run Linux, but OF COURSE I run GUIs on it via X.  I also run XP, but OF COURSE I run the occasional cmd box for pings or traceroutes.  The CLI isn't dead, but it's been remarkably superceded ... kind of like the organism that is now the mitochondria in a Human cell; we're better off using it as a part of our cells.

I was still using Windows 95 at home by early 2007, with Slackware on another computer.  (In fact, I could still fire up that same computer right now to post here on 4chan if I wanted.)  I started using Win98 at home more and more for other projects, starting in 2005.  The Win98 stopped working (probably due to a peculiar motherboard failure) in 2006 and I was stuck using the Win95 for Internet access until I was able to obtain cheap XP computers in early 2007.  Now I'm using XP and getting my Slackware stuff back online.