LinuxQuestions.org - Not exactly a newbie, but still dangerous

I have been using some variety of nix for some time (FreeBSD, Red Hat), but finally decided to dump Windows for good about a year ago. I still use win for a parallel port scanner (SANE is anything but scanner access now easy - I never could get it to work), but now I am glad I have it to fall back on (see thread in General about not being able to get into SuSE desktop). It takes hours to reinstall/reconfigure SuSE. The last time I tried to create a rescue floppy, I ended up spending the day trying to get past error messages. It seems that just about every time I try to do something other than standard stuff, I run into one problem after another (something not installed - go look for it - then some library is missing - can't find one for my kernel - finally get tired and quit)
I guess that is the :newbie: factor showing its head.
Anyway, I am an IT professional since 1993 and I love Windows because it is job security. I am like an auto mechanic in a world of Yugos.