Wow, that article about Sterling Ball is impressive.

http://news.com.com/2008-1082_3-5065859.html?tag=3Dlh

I've been toying with the idea of using Linux for more than a web server,
but have been hesitant because of the apparent learning curve relative to
the benefits. I've already sworn never to adopt WinXP, so maybe I was
already half way there, but this article convinced me it is worth the effort
to become proficient with Linux. Part of the reason I started using Linux
was that I sort of missed the old days with DOS (believe it or not) because
then you had complete control over the machine, such as it was. You have
that with Linux but its a lot more complex. Along those lines, I've bought
quite a few books already in an attempt to 'grok' Linux, but they all seem
either too rudimentary (click here to install) or too bogged down in the
details of some specific distro. Can anyone suggest a good source for the
overall structure and conventions used in Linux, other than "Linux
Internals?" I read "Linux Programming," which helped a lot, but I still
don't quite feel like I've got the big picture. My problem is I have lots of
other things to do besides tinker with Linux, so, "Learn Linux in 100,000
Easy Steps" won't do it for me. I worked my way through "make xconfig"
recently and it seems a lot of stuff is baked into the kernel that I
wouldn't have expected to be. Is there a clean boundary between kernel and
device drivers, for example? I guess what I'm looking for is where are the
boundaries and what do the interfaces look like, without getting an
explanation of how to write a demand-paged virtual memory manager.
--
Phil Mattison
Ohmikron Corp.
480-722-9595 ext.1
602-820-9452 Mobile