As a non technical person, I have been overwhelmed by the technical jargon used in Linux. My company is designing a web site for a new customer and I have been tasked to get the server ready. The requirement is to use Red Hat Linux.

For practice, I installed Ubuntu on a dual boot windows vista 32 bit laptop. I couldnt figure out how to install a print driver but that's another story. The ISO image directions seemed fairly straightforward.

I have to install Red Hat because this project requires building a web site with Cold Fusion 8 Server (linux 32 bit version).

I know there are probably an endless supply of books but I am trying to find tutorials on the internet to serve this purpose. My goal is simple; first install Red Hat on my laptop before attempting to install on the server. I will remove Ubuntu and install Red Hat

Are there tutorials or articles geared for beginners? Again, I am non-technical so most of the jargon is very confusing to me. I simply want to learn the basics of Linux; the file structure in Linux, creating user accounts, etc...

Finally, I shriek in horror anytime I need to use a console. I am simply accustomed to using a GUI as a longtime Windows user.

I welcome all suggestiions and feedback.

Your company needs to send you to a boot camp for a few weeks.

If they are too cheap then consider a managed provider. You can't protect this system with the small amount of training you have.

You do know RH costs a bunch of money? Is there a reason for that version?

Beginning linux stuff can be found by googling "linux newbie guide". I personally like the RUTE tutorial. It's a bit dated, but pretty good. YOu can also go over to the Linux Documentation Project and find some helpful guides and howto's.

As for Red Hat, you might look at the CentOS website for tutorials and help. CentOS is a free clone of Red Hat Enterprise Linux. It's exactly the same, except all the red hat trademarks have been removed.

Ubuntu is certainly user friendly for getting your feet wet. But Red Hat does some things a little bit different. Some of the configuration tools are different, and the package management system (how you install and remove programs) are different. You may find one easier than the other.

And sorry to say, but you're probably going to have to get command line dirty because servers usually don't run with a graphical environment (for security and resource hog reasons). So most of the help you find will probably relate to command line configuration of files. Of course, if this is just a test server for you, you can probably get away with a GUI.

I concur with the above statement that if this is a production server that's actually going to host your client's website, you need an expert or to farm out that part of it. Otherwise you'll be hacked in no time...

thank you very much for the advice.

As with learning anything new, it's always easier if there is easy to understand, easy to read documentation.

http://www.linuxnewbieguide.org/ seems like a great resource in helping me understand more about Linux.

If you have any other great resources, I welcome your opinion and feedback. You've been in my shoes before and can probably understand some of my frustration.

Again, thanks for the information and please let me know your thoughts on becoming more proficient with Linux.

Here is a great site for getting started with Ubuntu:
http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/index.php
Ubuntu has a server edition also. This is a command line ubuntu system without a graphical desktop. You can install the Ubuntu desktop on the server edition if you want to.

This tutorial really helped me learn basic linux terminal commands:
http://linuxcommand.org/learning_the_shell.php

Let's try a different approach.....

First, a console cannot hurt you. Especially if you operate under your own user name, there is a limit to how much damage you can do.

Second, you can learn maybe ten simple commands in less time than you have spent on this thread.

Finally--and most important--is that you will quickly learn that the console is the easiest and fastest way to do certain things. Once you've internalized that, the rest will be easy.

Here's a couple of good reads:
a comparison of Linux & MS; shows the different mindset reqd, short article: http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm

Here's a link to the 'Rute' guide mentioned. Its very good http://rute.2038bug.com/index.html.gz

And here is one that has a million links: http://www.yolinux.com/

I appreciate all the great links.

I took a bold step forward by attempting to install Red Hat Linux.

Boy that was a mistake. First I created a partition on my Dell Inspiron Windows Vista 32 bit laptop.

Next, I attempted to install Red Hat Linux. Overall, it seems rather straightforward; at least until I rebooted my computer. My goal was to keep my existing Windows Vista OS and create a dual boot; Windows Vista and Red Hat Linux.

Obviously, I failed miserably in this task. I ruined Windows Vista after rebooting. The Windows dual boot didnt work. At that time, Red Hat booted fine but Windows Vista didn't work anymore. I spent all day formatting the hard disk, installing, and configuring everything in order to start all over again.

Ubuntu was simply very easy to install. It did everything for me.

Now, the next step is to search for any thread looking for ways to create a dual boot system with Red Hat and a different OS.

If any of use have installed Red Hat, I would love to correspond with you.

I had tried dual booting Vista twice, once with Slackware and the next time with FC10, both times, vista got corrupted. Again I'm not 100%, it certainly could have been because my bootloader configs were not proper, but I really don't think so. Anyway I got rid of Vista !

XP has always worked for me with a variety of linux's.

A guide from RedHat:
http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/l...-dualboot.html