Hi all, Thanks for your helpful postings. I'm coming back to ask further help in sharpening issues before me.. I see four now: 1. Understanding the machine Wanting a more general perspective that will help me anticipate and navigate OS issues as they arise. Just ordered http://www.amazon.com/Write-Great-Code-Understanding-Machine/dp/1593270038/r... Anyone have reading (book, online) suggestions geared at accessible intro level? More intermediate level? 2. Getting a machine Freedom of choice in the component market is overwhelming. A curse, actually. I'd be losing significant time just learning how to spec a system. In the Worcester area, is there anyone I can pay to put together a machine for me with some bit of craftsmanship and reliability? That way I can have substantially more control over machine quality. Do any of you have a favorite components list? I'd be most interested in a machine designed for silence, and I'm quite willing to study up on that issue.. fan noise drives me nuts when I'm coding. What do you think about this workaround -- http://www.inatux.com/order These are FSF/FOSS people. I can't see a need for a super fast system yet, as I can't say yet where my project interests will gravitate. In light of that, since optimality makes no sense, what machine specs do you think would be “good enough”? Desirable packages to install? And, for cable broadband and live streaming of audio and video, what combination or package(s) of HW ad SW should I ask for. Wired case? Wireless case? 3. YOUR advice for a would be hacker? I wonder how folks in this forum might vary from the following position. Would you prioritize or sequence things differently? “Start out by learning bash, then set up your own Unix environment. This is a biggie. PC-BSD works fine. Learn to use it for your everyday tasks, learn how to administrate it and keep it up to date and secure. Then, when you've done that, start in with Python. Solve the Project Euler problems in whatever language you're learning. Learn which languages are better suited for particular problems. Learn about security in programs, vulnerabilities and how to exploit them. Read other people's code and post your own. Learn the low-level stuff later.” 4. What Linux distribution would you pair with Unix? And, what will I learn from one that I don't learn from the other? Thanks, in advance, for thoughts, reactions, give and take! Brian