What is the best linux distribution for learning to use many?

First, a bit about my background.. I currently work as a Network Engineer, mainly with Cisco routers/switches and VPN devices. I am thoroughly familiar with Windows, both as a workstation and server, and have one more test to go to complete my MCSE. However, I have no real experience with Linux, and feel like this is both a hole in my personal knowledge and in my resume. 🙂 I can do basic user stuff both from a command line and in Xwindows, but have no real command of it.

That said, I intend to rectify this. I want to start using Linux as my primary operating system on my personal PC, as I feel this is a great first step to really force myself to learn it. I need to know what distribution would be best for me to use. My concern is some of them seem to have a lot of proprietary tools that are not found in other linux distros, I want to find one to learn on that will best allow me to be comfortable on any linux distro I run into in the future. Thanks much for your advice!

wordpress.com – Step-by-Step Tutorial on How to Blog

This is a good tutorial on WordPress blogging.

Chris Abraham walks you through how to join the fastest-growing and most elegant free blogging services, wordpress.com. Go from the simple acts of joining all the way through set up and administration. Become a blogger in few than 45-minutes. Most folks only need the first 15 minutes to get you started. Chris is a professional blogging instructor. Enjoy!

Yochai Benkler: Open-source economics

Wondering about whether to switch to open source. Here is a economic view of the open source movement.

www.ted.com Law professor Yochai Benkler explains how collaborative projects like Wikipedia and Linux represent the next stage of human organization. By disrupting traditional economic production, copyright law and established competition, they’re paving the way for a new set of economic laws, where empowered individuals are put on a level playing field with industry giants.

Open office spell checker?

For open office which I use because I deleted Microsoft word on accident and the program I use most (open office writer) won’t spell check, none of the programs do but I need writer the most! So when I go to spell check it says “continue checking at the beginning of the document” and if I say yes It says that it’s done and If I press no it closes. And I did a test try and spelled words wrong on purpose and tried it and it said I spelled it right. What can I do?