Originally posted here by MadBadger
I really want to learn more about IT without going back to school.
I would say to get a good idea about how PC's work, reading the A+ books would be a great start, and I would suggest if your taking that step, getting A+ certified is not a bad thing to look into. It is a test you can sign up to take. only a hundred sum dollars. From there, setting up a small network at your house/apartment would be another way to get your skills built up, and from there.... Start learning you linux...

Originally posted here by MadBadger
I also want to put a Linux OS (probably SuSE 8.0) on my system and learn as much as I can from others willing to share their knowledge (web sites such as this one).
I believe Red Hat is one of the easiest for newbies to learn, I would suggest Mandrake or Red Hat. One you have configured a fully operational linux machine, and learned the basic commands. I would suggest trying to implement a or maybe a couple linux machines into your network. By then you should be confident enough to learn programming. Just a couple things to keep you busy when you decide to learn.....