Debian to Mepis and maybe back to Debian

[xarzu]

Hello Forum!

I have started out on a Linux journey. I have a very old ChemBook laptop computer that had had Windows 95 on it. The world (the on-line world, in particular) had advanced to the point where this laptop was really no longer useful. So I had been thinking that this was a good chance to start learning Linux.

Then a project had developed at work where some other programmers had decided to start using Debian. So I started attempting to install Debian. This did not go very smoothly.

The latest version of Debian (Etch) did not agree immediately with my video hardware. I struggled with this for a while and eventually decided to give Mepis a shot. This worked.

Now I am thinking that once I get some other hardware issue resolved I might switch again after I learn more about Linux.

So this is where I am now. Any suggestions?

I think that my next step should be to become familiar with the command-line level of Linux. Does anyone have any suggestions for tutorials, ebooks, etc.?