Where do I find administrators' documentation?

["Moore, Paul" <Paul.Moore@uk.origin-it.com>]

Hi,
I don't know for sure if this is the best place to ask (debian-doc looks
more like it's for the people developing documentation, rather than for
asking *about* it - tell me if I'm wrong and I'll ask there), but here
goes...

I've used Debian off and on for a while now, and the thing I find most
difficult to get to grips with is the system administration in the
debian-specific areas. Things I've come up against in the past include

    - package management (beyond the basic apt-get install)
    - the alternatives system
    - X windows and the "menu" system
    - window managers and configuration thereof
    - general user config (and more generally, applying
      system-wide defaults)
    - users and groups (specific question, why have a
      group for each user?)
    - what is the impact of (say) changing /etc/xxxxx directly, on
      the package management system - and how do I assess
      this impact before making changes?

In general, I've hunted round and found answers to most of the questions
I've had, but it has been a fairly ad-hoc and time-consuming process. There
are now books appearing on the market purporting to be "Debian Linux" books,
but they are generally fairly general, with minimal Debian-specific content.

My basic question is - is there any document available (preferably for
download) which covers the specific issues relating to how Debian
administration is done, where that is different from "generic" Linux admin?
If not, can anyone give me some pointers on how to get to grips with this
sort of thing? I'm only running a small single-user Debian workstation, and
I don't want to get massively involved in systems admin, but at the moment I
feel like I'm losing control of the system altogether :-(

Thanks in advance,
Paul.

PS My specific benchmark for whether something is what I'm after tends to be
whether the alternatives system is described, whether the reason for having
a group for each user is explained, and some good overviews on how to do
system config without upsetting apt when an upgrade occurs. Nothing I've
seen yet covers all of this - although the FAQ is otherwise the best
document I've seen...