How To Learn Linux Effectively - How Long To Devote, What To Focus On?

Hi all,

Apologies if this is off-topic. I searched a while and couldn't find out whether or not the Newbie forum is strictly for technical questions or not.

I am new to Linux and have been using it the past 4 months or so. Currently I work in a support job as an MS technician. I'm mostly using it to advance my career. Management told me if I devote time to learning Linux to the point where I can do very basic maintenance tasks on the company Linux servers, and the ability to support our few Linux clients, I would be promoted to a senior support position.

One of the greater challenges so far is trying to figure out WHAT to focus on and how long to devote to it each day. I find that if I spend multiple hours/day trying to learn Linux (like 2-3 hours), I don't retain much of what I've learned. Conversely, if I don't spend enough time each day, I worry that I will not learn enough to become proficient in a reasonable amount of time. I sometimes start reading up on a Linux topic, for instance, how to send mail to users, and wonder if my time could be better spent learning another aspect. Then again, I feel like a lot of this basic knowledge can be built upon.

I'd like to become proficient enough to achieve this senior position in 1.5-2 years. Given my current job and personal responsibilities I am able to devote 1-2 hours of learning Linux each day.

In that amount of time, I've been learning new bash commands daily and practicing yum, tried setting up a web server, extracting/compiling software, messing around with inittab, cron jobs, etc. very basic things and building upon that.

Does this sound reasonable? I'd very much appreciate some pointers and to see if I am on the right track from a Linux community perspective.

Thanks.


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