Am about to install Fedora 5 as step 1 toward becoming one of the foremost computing experts in the world by 2017. Along with Linux scripting, serving, and securing, I intend to first quickly master html/xhtml/css and also becomg an intermediate Perl guy before the year is out, hopefully meanwhile launching at least one website which creates enough income for me to live on. Almost forgot to mention I'll be familiarizing myself with Apache & MySQL during the following months too. Newbies sound skeptical but the old hats already noticed I'm just becoming a LAMPer. Eventually I intend to get deep into C, Java, and algorithms/engineering. Eventually I'd like to be the guy who can hack (in the positive, curious sense) into any device and program it--so I'll likely study some electronics and assembly down the road, probably even a bit of machine language! Sounds like a lot, but I chose to do this with NYC real estate and am switching careers to computing after nine years of climbing to a respectable place in that game. Of course, it's a given that I'm gonna need to brush up on my math. I am probably going to attend City College in Manhattan (I live in Brooklyn) in the fall to get my BS in Electrical Engineering before an MS in Computer Science. Hopefully I'll make a few friends along the way during the brief moments I come up for air. I am amazed if anyone is still reading this. If so, feel free to say hello.

Wow, quite an ambitious plan you have there. Good luck, hopefully we can help you with your aims. Welcome to LQ

Hi and welcome to LQ

Xavier, thanks a lot! Thanks for not flaming my rather haughty goal to become a top expert lol. The way I look at it there is only so much information on these subjects, despite its vastness, and with a regular regimen of study (keeping up with advances, of course) in ten years only a few elite techs should know more than I do in my chosen few areas of expertise. I'm nobody now, but tons and tons of well-planned hard yet stimulating work should make me into... somebody.

Actually my first Linux question has already been posted; although I intend to figure problems out on my own as much as possible since this is often the path to much knowledge. The question basically asked how to install Linux (Fedora 5, downloaded full dvd iso) onto my laptop (Thinkpad X40/running & planning to keep in partition xp) which has no drives at all and is not on any network other than the Net. Honestly I posted it yesterday but today bought an external dvd drive, but I still would like to try anyway without the drive or at least learn how to do it because I think installing an OS without drives or using any other computers (also without removing the hard drive) could be a useful ability, ya think?

And, Shrikant, thank you for your thorough and enlightening greeting. (The sarcasm is my passive aggressive encouragement for notes to me on this site to please be educational. Give me your knowledge, people! Think you're sort of a guru at some facet of Linux, lemme know, thanks!)

I responded to your question. Many of us here would still consider ourselves newbies, despite having been around for a while. We are always learning something new.

Hi there, and welcome to LQ!

As XavierP said, you certainly are ambitious. I wish you nothing but success.
You might want to take a look at RUTE for a great source of Linux knowledge. It might be getting a little bit dated in some areas, but it's still a very valuable text (take a browse through the table of contents to see what it covers and if it may be of any use).

Truthfatal, thanks a lot! I bookmarked RUTE and am definitely going to read it for brain glue after I finish my two Linux books on the agenda.

Xavier, very Socratic and respectable comment. Always a newbie is the best attitude for accruing bits indefinitely, I agree. And thanks for the correct answer to my question. I replied there to your solution.

Hope all is well guys. Wish me luck in the work ethic dept. (don't post anything lol, just think it, I know you guys have better things to do)

See you around.