Reddit reviews A Practical Guide to the UNIX System (3rd Edition)
We found 2 Reddit comments about A Practical Guide to the UNIX System (3rd Edition). Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Which C++ book? If it's a Deitel book or 24 hours or whatever, just take it back. If you would like to learn C++, get Koenig's Accelerated C++.Also, I've never read a 'Dummies' book but if your Linux book is like the "Learn X in Y [unit of time]" then I would take it back. I think this is a good, albeit old, book. I'm sure others can recommend some more specific to your distribution.
As far as systems administration goes, C++ isn't very useful. As a system administrator, you will want to learn how to automate tedious tasks. UNIX Power Tools is a good book for learning the smattering of mini languages you will run into. This includes Awk, Sed, Bash, etc.
Aside from that, learning a language like Python will be useful. But I'd take it one step at a time. If you're trying to learn many things at once and don't have a teacher it might be tough trying to organize all the learning.
I would start by running Linux in a VM (Virtual Machine) under Windows. Take a look at VMWare Player. This way you can try out different Linux distributions to familiarize yourself with them and decide which one you like best, all without compromising your ability to get your job/school work done.
Try to accomplish everything you need to within a Linux VM. Learn how to install and remove software with the package manager. Learn how to use the shell effectively (especially creating pipelines of commands). Learn how the filesystem works, mounting devices. Learn how to configure networking. Once you've figured out which distribution you like, and feel confident that you can do everything you need to, then install Linux as your primary OS.
Even then you could still set up dual boot or run Windows in a VM under Linux if you still really need Windows. For example, I worked somewhere that used Excel spreadsheets with lots of VBA/macros that just wouldn't work with OpenOffice. For me, games are the only reason I still keep Windows 7 around.
Google search is your friend, as well as here and linuxquestions.org. When I switched to Linux back in the late 1990's I relied on A Practical Guide to the UNIX System a lot. It's out of print, but if you can find a cheap used version it's worth picking up.