[KLUG Members] starter questions from someone new to the list

[Richard Harding]

First a quick hello. I am from the Flint area, so not quite a local. I 
am currently looking for a bit of info and I am hoping that some on the 
list here can point me in the right direction.

I work for a small non-profit branch of the MSU Medical Education 
program. We currently employ a MS Exchange server/AD Domain controller 
and a MS Terminal Server. I have brought in a Debian based Linux server 
for web serving and created several custom PHP applications that we now 
use.

I really want to get rid of the exchange server and instead run a 
combination of Exim, Bind, ldap, etc on the Debian server. I have 
managed to get Bind working as an internal DNS server at the moment and 
Exim set up to just forward all mail to the exchange server for the time 
being.

What I am looking for is people to talk with about some of this. I have 
been trying to find any area options for training courses in things like 
DNS management, ldap setup and configuring, and such..practical stuff I 
am also wondering if you all know of any decent IRC channels on various 
servers that I might want to get to know better. I can find many basic 
Linux Q&A areas on the net, but sites or places to get info and talk 
with those that are a level above seem to be hard to locate.

Thanks a ton for any information you all might have that can help me 
out. I am reading my eyes out right now, but sometimes you just need to 
talk to someone that knows more than you.

Rick