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I used to love Slackware in the late 90s - early 2000s, but I ended up leaving it because 1) the bootscripts were EXTREMELY slow by the mid 2000s and 2) they took years to upgrade to the 2.6 kernel.
Doing the Linux From Scratch project will ensure that you are completely comfortable with using the bash s (aka command-line) and compiling software with the autotools. In addition, you'll learn a few important sysadmin skills like how to write sed and bash scripts while doing the build, as well as learning the major parts that go into the OS (if you read the book while you go along.) Unfortunately, X11 is an absolute nightmare to compile for LFS, and also, 64 bit and multilib are enormous pains in the ass too. Those are the two things that made me abandon LFS and go to Ubuntu as my OS. Still, you can build a really nice distro using LFS that you'll know like the back of your hand if you're willing to put the time in. One other major problem with LFS though is that there is no (easy) way to uninstall software, as there is no package management. Still, if you want to learn Linux at a sysadmin level, I know no better way short of paying for a class or getting a job doing it.
http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/lfs/
If you can program C, one way to learn a lot about UNIX is to read Advanced Programming in the UNIX Environment, an amazing(-ly thick) text that does a great job explaining processes, threads, pipes, I/O, files and their attributes, etc. It does assume you're pretty good in C though, so you should be comfortable with all the stuff in K&R (i.e., The C Programming Language, 2nd Edition) to be able to effectively read APUE.
If you're interesting in learning operating systems, you can follow the following course offered by Cal Berkeley: http://webcast.berkeley.edu/course_d...sid=1906978494
