I went to college at a tech school where we were taught on a 8086 board using dos and the Microsoft assembler. Since then I have used Windows exclusively, but I have found it's command prompt wanting. I have bought a shell account on one of Dreamhost's shared hosting servers. I have found as I try to move into web programming, I really need to learn Linux usage.
I am totally in the dark when I SSH into my Debian account. I installed Cygwin as a sort of "bridge" to help me learn without having to commit to a full blown dual-boot. I am also using it's bash shell instead of putty for SSH now. Where can I find good resources (especially an e-book or tutorial) for learning Cygwin?
Is there a guide for DOS/Windows users? I also need to know what differences I need to watch out for when I am using Debian. I know Cygwin is a subset of full blown Linux, but how much so? Are there any big or especially useful things that are missing in Cygwin or present in Debian I ought to know about?
I want to try using Cygwin exclusively for my daily work as soon as possible for a period of time until I am "fluent". I need a sort of "quick start guide" to help me get started. MAN is helpful(of course) as a reference, but I need something more like a user guide in addition.
Are there any drawbacks to doing this? Things I need to know in advance?
