Hey all. Glad to finally find a Unix/Linux forum that I can actually post on!

I'm having trouble trying to find a place to start with Unix and C programming. I want to avoid college so that I don't send myself further into debt. I have an aptitude for learning extremely quickly. I was Army EOD (the school is all memorizing and scoring 90% or better on every test and only 2 hours of studying a night (has a 95% fail rate)) so I'm sure I can handle this.

I have an older computer (windows xp age) but I'm sure it'll be sufficient enough to run Unix for practice and such.

I just need a push in the right direction with what tools I will need as well as what books and programs I'll have to pick up to start learning my future career.

Thanks!