I'm looking to get a shell account to tinker with before I actually install linux on my old box, free or pay, it don't matter. Any suggestions?

Do you know anybody with a linux or unix machine? I learned how to mess around in the shell because one of my teachers at school had a redhat server running. He gave me an account and I would telnet in everyday and learn new things.

I don't know of any sites that provide this kind of service but they could be out there. You never know.

Thats actually a really good idea. Maybe someone could set up a server to allow newbies to hack around. It would be a challenge not only for the newbie but for the person who sets up the server as well. The admin would have to make sure the newbie couldn't mess anything up.

http://www.hackerslab.org

You'll learn a lot about Linux and it's pretty fun and harmless.

Have fun

Wow that is very cool! Good link rmartine.

Hackerslab is so cool; I've made it to level3 in five hours; How FUN;

I use the FreeBSD shell provided by Arbornet. To get an account, please telnet to m-net.arbornet.org. Follow the instructions.

The below links give you more free shell providers
http://www.leftfoot.com/free-shell.html
http://www.ductape.net/~mitja/freeunix.shtml

www.hbx.us

or

http://www.bylur.net/free/ for a list of free shells