I’ve been using Linux full time at home since Windows Vista. I’ve been a Linux admin of some sort since 2013. I’ve been able to pass assessment tests and basically “fake it til I make it” to this point.
I have been asked more than a few times how to “get into” Linux? Each time I replied to the request with some general advice, a few links and the promise to answer any further questions as they arise.
It’s made me think about collecting all the “wisdom” I’ve suggested previously into one place, so I can just direct requests to this page in the future.
Q. If I have never worked with Linux in the past but would like to start learning more about it, is there something you would recommend that can start me on the path?
Truthfully, the best advice I can give is to install Ubuntu on an older machine and just start using it. I feel like I struggled getting a system actually working (back in the day). Nowadays, it’s relatively easy to install Linux (plus you’ve got resources, like me, to help get things off the ground) Start slow, with the goal of trying to do everything on Linux that you do on Windows (a lofty goal and not always possible, but you’d be surprised). Install some software, configure it. Break it and then fix it again. Figure out how to install alternative browsers. Figure out how to do it from the command line. Decide what you want to do next and then figure out how to do it…
Q. Is it possible to break something with Linux and not be able to fix it again? 
Of course! Especially when you’re the administrator (root account access). But traditionally, user security is tighter and viruses are less prevalent on Linux (since it’s a smaller, more secure footprint). But I have seen some gnarly Linux viruses.
When you get a chance – read this: https://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm
It’s a good primer for Windows people starting Linux from scratch.
Q. Is it worth it to get Linux certified?
I’d love to be certified, but there’s always been the cost issue, and at this point I have to wonder how much good a certification is going to do me
But to be clear I’m not condoning not getting a certification if you have the means and the ability, a certification will get you the basic knowledge you need to build on. To read more about Linux certification, go here.
I used to have regular lunches with a former co-worker of mine, and we’d talk about how he wanted to get into Linux all the time. Then, when he started using Linux, he was so disappointed that more people weren’t using it. We talked a lot of advocacy and what could be done to get people into Linux.
At the end of lunch, I’d tell him that I’d send links relating to what we talked about when I got back to my desk. Here’s a collection of stuff I sent him over the year or so we had lunches. Most of it has to do with the advocacy of Linux in general.
“Why use Linux?” is a question a lot of people have. “Why are Linux people jerks?” is another one.
These try to answer these questions and give some background to why Linux is a thing and how to get involved doing things with it.
Check out this article: “Linux is NOT Windows“. An excellent read for anyone who complains that they want to “get into” Linux, but it’s “too different” or “too hard”.
Quotes
“You don’t have to be elitist and snobby about it. You don’t have to make it seem as if you’re better than other people who don’t use Linux. Just don’t try to sell it. Don’t seem desperate. Don’t try to convince people to use Linux any more than you would convince a potential suitor to court you. Don’t act like a shady telemarketer.”
from A New Desktop Linux Tactic: Play Hard To Get
“…Linux doesn’t want you. Linux is not an OS that is sold to make large profits by large Corporations. Linux is something you CHOOSE to have and if you don’t want it and all you want to do is say “[Linux] sucks” the Linux user community will not miss you. Don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out….”.
from A quote from an argument in the comments on an article detailing how to install *nix software distributed as tarballs
Richard Stallman is the father of open source software. He wanted very badly to be the king of an open-source operating system that would topple Windows. Instead, that honor went to Linus Torvalds, who wrote the Linux kernel.
To this day, we all still use Richard Stallman’s free ports of Unix software on Linux. We wouldn’t be here without him.
Oh, and he’s also a kook. This is the Best and Worst of Richard Stallman
Speaking of Linus Torvalds, he did a TED talk in 2016 where he talks about the origin of Linux. (Linus reportedly hates giving talks and prefers to just answer questions, hence the format of this TED Talk)
Lastly, when you have a half-hour, watch Brian Lunduke tell a roomful of Linux people why “Linux Sucks“