I'll counter with the fact that I think consistent, accurate, and up-to-date "basic usage" information is still really hard to come by for a linux newbie. The t

I'll counter with the fact that I think consistent, accurate, and up-to-date "basic usage" information is still really hard to come by for a linux newbie. The thousands of guides, HOWTOs, forums, mailing lists, etc just means that in addition to trying to learn the system, they also have to learn how to separate the wheat from the chaff, information-wise. I've known plenty of people who are very good programmers or Windows admin-types who would make very good linux sysadmins, but for the huge hurdle of not learning linux, but learning how to learn linux. That's not to discount your suggestion around expert tips/war stories/etc., though.