I'm a Novice
 

Hi People,
I'm a complete novice as far as open source is concerned. I know absolutely nothing about Linux. But I'm a quick learner and can make a significant results in little or no time.
Where would you recommend I begin from? A free site will do just fine.
Thanks

Your question is a bit vague. What exactly are you looking for. Well this is a very good "free site" with lots of resources about Linux.

not the best subject for a question! ;-)
but....welcome to LQF!
you should look on the website of your distribution for further manuals,howtos,...
and some basic sites for ´linux basics´ ´linux commands´ and so on (google should help)

and lqf of course ;-)

your best bet is try find the version you want and duel boot. this way you can always go back to windoze if you get confused or something doesnt configure the right way.
another big help is searching this site. i've been on here for some time but have a nice low post count because all i ever do is search. just remember to have fun and if something doesnt go your way, dont run, try to figure out why. after you understand it you'll be glad you stayed.

btw welcome

http://www.tldp.org/ and http://www.linuxdoc.com/ are good, I think.