Hi everyone, thanks for reading this post. I have become very frustrated. I want to be a webmaster, but I know nothing right now.

linux, switches, clustering, scripts, blablablablabla...they're just complicated buzzwords to me, and I'm feeling very overwhelmed.

I want to be a webmaster...I've been interested in this kind of stuff for many years right now, but have never known how to start learning it. I wanted to take ComSci at University, but their program had nothing to do with this kinds of stuff, so I was told I can try learning it on my own.

I can teach myself if I only knew WHAT to teach myself. I'm very academically-oriented and can learn well from self-study through books, but the thing is that there's ONE MILLION different things that you all here know, and I know feel like even if I start now and study everything I possibly can with full dedication I won't know 1% of what you all know!

I do know a little, but for argument's sake let's say I know NOTHING...what would be the logical progression for somebody to go from knowing nothing about this all to being somebody who could (not really, but let's just say) run Google's or Yahoo's webmaster stuff?

In terms of what I'd like to learn, I'd like to stick with the open-source stuff like PHP rather than Java, and Apache/Linux over Windows. But the thing is there's so much more to this...there's networking issues, server administration issues, security issues, e-commerce issues, email server stuff, and the list just seems to go on and on and on...

Where does it STOP? But, more importantly, where does it even begin?

How can I learn what I want to learn? What should I study and in what order, to become somebody that can answer the questions like the pros here on this forum? To become somebody that (totally hypothetically) Dell.com could call up to ask about its web issues?

Please help me...take pity on my situation of not knowing any of this stuff. Please give me your insights, I really need it. I really appreciate any advice you can provide on what I should learn...the more detailed and specific you can be, the better. Give me book names, tell me which programs (distribution and version number), etc.

But most importantly, assume I'm a complete idiot and know nothing when explaining to me, because that's a fairly accurate assessment of me. Thank you very much, I really appreciate it.

Webmaster or Admin?
A webmaster designs and maintaines websites. An admin does linux, switches, clustering, scripts, blablablablabla.;)

Thanks for telling me the difference...SEE!! I didn't even know that much...****

I'd like to know the admin side of things, not the webmaster side.

Somebody please help...I'll never get good sleep until I feel I know where to start :(

Thanks again!

well, you could start by installing Linux (http://fedora.redhat.com). Get an old computer you don't use any more (ideally not TOO old - certainly no older than a Pentium 500Mhz or so - if you're going to be working with dynamic content you'll almost certainly find anything less too slow), throw the install CD into the drive and follow the instructions. (be aware that there are other (http://www.debian.org) types (http://www.gentoo.org) of (http://www.knoppix.org) Linux (http://www.slackware.org), but Fedora will likely cause you the least trouble).

Once you're up and running, look towards installing Apache 2, MySQL and PHP.

The key is to learn in little bits and pieces. It'll take you quite a while to get Linux installed and running smoothly. It'll take you a little while to work out how to install Apache etc., and to configure them to your liking. It will take you even longer to pick up things like BIND, DNS and zone files. Longer still to understand whatever you decide to take on next.

Be patient. You won't suddenly understand everything like magic, it will all slowly fall into place.

All that said and done, you should be able to find a course on network and/or system administration somewhere that may help you get started.

How about taking a course in Linux? Or working towards a Linux+ certification? That should atleast get you started and give you sufficient background information, from there you can choose your interests (networking, security, etc.) and start reading books/taking courses.