Suggestions Required

Hello Everyone,
Well, I am moving toward an important milestone in my computing carries. Let me make a confession that I was a 1337 , A script kiddie..But I dont want to be a 1337 anymore. I want to be a real hacker, The one that has thirst for Knowledge. I have developed potential in myself for reading and alots of reading...and i want to say Thank u all, because its all because of this forum, where i came to know what is actually a hacker, and i ll be proud one day when someone will call me HaCkEr!!!
Now I am asking for some suggestions from the gurus!!!

1) I am shifting to Red Hat Linux, I have gone through some tutorial of shell scripting, some documentation about configuring servers on Linux Box, but i am still worried about some basic stuff in Linux. What if i w ant to use some Microsoft product on Linux Box like MSN Messenger, and what else should i be doing on a linux machine as i have no network that i can administre, so comments from the gurus required.
2) I am planning to take up a serious project that involves computer systems and Artifical Intelligience.Computer system part is dominant.It is also an academic exercise. Project should be something like that i could continue in my final year project as well. I thought to develop an interface with a 9v motor and control the motor's speed. And then I will continue my this project as a final year project for developing a mechanical arm. But i also want some suggestion for a project that is like coding something integrating an OS administration and Networks. That would be great, If someone recomends me a project like this.
I hope for alots of anticpation,
Thank you very much
Have Fun,
bye,
ommy

ok.. I personaly woudlnt chose Redhat not now they rm 'ed the console tools and worried too much about the GUI..

go more with slackware or mandrake..
There are MSN Messanger alternatives you can even get a Linux Version.. as well as you can run Windows Emulators(sp?)

Your kind of Vauge with your AI thing what you going to make the AI part in? Lisp?.... what?


Thanks
Wispy

amsn is MSN for linux and very cool http://amsn.sourceforge.net/
also u can get working on MSN and yahoo simultaneotously in linux by using GAIM....

and wine http://www.winehq.com/

Well thanx Wispy, Forget about AI. I am looking for a hardcore project that involves computer systems as a major part of it for my final year, and a predecessor for it which i could do now.
Thank you
Ommy

In order to get a better knowledge of the workings of the various linux systems and other concepts I find it helpfull to play with the three BSD's

Net : Free : Open

You can either download them at www.linuxiso.org or purchase all 3 from http://itdepartment.0catch.com

I think the best way to learn is by doing.

Doing installations.
Doing Experiments.

By Doing you expand more than you ever would by reading books.

Alot of computer people find it difficult in MCSE type multiple choice exams due to the nature of the course work so a little study always helps.

I would suggest a decent Linux book try looking through the reviews etc on here to find one that suits you.

i'm choosing to ignore the hacker crap as it offends me and annoys me.. but i will give you some info..

I take it that you do not have copious numbers of computers to experiment with, making networking experimentation more difficult, although not impossible.. if you are looking to move to a Linux distribution, and do not currently have much experience but would like to change that.. Redhat or SuSE would be a good choice, as they allow you to experience linux without forcing you to be very familiar from the start. However, if you do have unix-like-os experience, and would like a suggestion as to a good system to learn, the above suggestion of the BSD's are good, FreeBSD is somewhat userfriendly while still requiring a fair amount of experience to use effectivly, OpenBSD would be the OS i would choose for more server experimentation, as it is by default very secure, lightweight, and has a good userbased support community behind it.

As you were vague to your requirements, i cannot focus any of my comments towards specifics. But if you would like to get into computer security, i would suggest reading and experimenting with ipv6, and/or ipsec, encryption, and general network security using firewalls and security policies.

good luck, and i hope that someday you outgrow your hacker fixation..