Reddit reviews Learning the bash Shell, 2nd Edition

I'm 43 and became specialized in a narrow range of products. on the one hand, if you need someone who knows about this stuff, I'm one of the most knowledgeable you can find.. on the other, I've become so specialized it's starting to hurt me career/ financially.

a friend of mine just got another startup going. he's a backend php developer and they needed more of a systems/ sysadmin person in a part time role to setup all the tools and the production environment. he asked if I'd be into it and I said yes - I was eager to learn new skills and aware I'd be blowing away cobwebs and kick starting brain cells etc. but dived in.

I've learned more in the last few months than I've learned in the last 5 years and it's been awesome. I read and really enjoyed [Code] (http://www.amazon.com/Code-Language-Computer-Hardware-Software/dp/0735611319/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334526682&sr=1-1), I'm almost finished working through [learning the bash shell] (http://www.amazon.com/Learning-bash-Shell-2nd-Edition/dp/1565923472) and plan on working through [C programming] (http://www.amazon.com/C-Programming-Language-2nd-Edition/dp/0131103628/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334526363&sr=1-1) after that.

one thing, I used to be a Java programmer a decade ago. I read computer articles out of curiosity and will buy the occasional computer book for fun.

backing up - I've realized in the last few years that for me one very important skill is the skill of learning. getting your brain back into a state where it absorbs new information easily and likes it can be an uphill climb once you start back after a break of a decade or more.. but I'm resigned to always working on new stuff, deepening my technical knowledge, studying music, I want to do woodwork and organic gardening, learn piano, etc. after a while you start seeing deeper connections between areas of specialization - and that's pretty cool :)