Ever since I was little, I remember playing with my mother's macintosh computer, IT in general has always been an interest of mine. I know it sounds strange, but I only discovered linux in the past year or so( I am 17). I am shamed. Anyway, everything about unix absolutely inspires me.I saved up for a while, and finally bought a powerbook G4 running tiger, and I have two old pcs running Mandriva Linux and FreeBSD. I don't know a huge amount yet, but I am very eager to learn. Obviously this site is an incredible gift, and I thank the moderators, who really must put a ridiculous amount of time into this site.To be frank, the antipoint thing scares me, I have to think carefully about every word I type lol. This could be the point...

Anyway,after careful thought, I've decided I'd really love to become a system administrator on a unix system.But Unix is so complex and so rich in its various flavours and niches, the subject daunts me. What I would appreciate is a bit of help getting started. I've taken these books out of the library:

Beginning Unix from the programmer to programmer series
TCP/IP First steps by Mark A. sportack
The complete idiots guide to programming basics by Clayton Walnum

I've also purchased the visual quickstep guide to Mac Os X Tiger

I've been searching google,as well as antionline, looking for good articles.

here are my questions:

1. what subjects should I focus on first?
2.What programming language should I learn first, and how can I start?
3.Are there any good tuts/post/websites/books/papers you would suggest to a budding unix fanatic?
4.how much should I learn about pc hardware, how can I learn more?
5.Is there any advice you could give me about your own experience learning unix/system administration,how should I approach,what subjects gave you trouble?

Thank you for any help you can give me, I just want to learn and grow.I'm sorry for any etiquette errors in this post, I'm trying not to be annoying.

please don't flame me...I'll say a prayer for you at mass if you don't flame me.