| While there are several books to teach you basics of Linux, the best way to learn is to do hands on. - Install Virtual box ( or any other free VM hosts). - Download CentOS. - Set yourself a goal on what you need to achieve - e.g I need to run php version x with apache configured to do x y z tasks. - Install CentOS as a VM ( you could skip these steps and run a cheap VPS as others have suggested) . - Understand the various steps in the installation - Disk partition, Software selection etc. Don't just blindly select anything unless you understand what you are doing. - Figure out what software you need to install to achieve your goal and install it one by one. - Ever time you get struck, if you find some command to fix the issue, don't blindly copy paste it - understand what the issue is and figure out what the command you are trying to run is doing to fix the issue. Once you have everything up and running, destroy the machine and start over with a slightly different goal. Google is your friend! Good luck. |
That's important advice: anytime you run up against a selection option and you don't know what you should choose or why the default is what is it, search for more information to understand what is going on. I believe you can teach yourself anything just by setting a goal and learning as you go (with plenty of time and acceptance for mistakes).