carfac - 4:36 am on May 19, 2007 (gmt 0)

I guess I will be the voice of dissent here. I as in that position a few years ago. I had done SOME work on my site, some basic Perl and such, and, "Oh would you install this module for me" to the ISP. Other than that, NO LINUX or Apache experience at all.

So when my ISP said I needed to move to a Dedicated, they said they would be there for me. And they were, and have been. I listened to their recommendations, and installed FreeBSD and Apache, because that is what they ran. But I installed it. I screwed it up, they showed me where I screwed up, and I reinstalled it. Basically, I learned by doing, but with their supervision. I pretty much copied therir configuration when I started... as I learned more of what I needed, I went my own way. As I wanted more, I learned more and more how to do it on my own (Well, my own, with Googles help!) Now, it has been 6 months or more since I even had to talk to a tech there.

Got a couple Unix/FreeBSD books along the way, and that helps, too.

But I would just find a good, friendly and helpful local ISP that will help you along. It is possible to learn.... but you have to experience some before you even know what you want or need.

BTW, I have found Webmin to be very helpful... but it is very powerful, too. LOCK THAT PUPPY DOWN HARD!

Dave