off topic/learning C

[ktb <ktb@binary.net>]

Hi,  I posted to the Debian user's group the other day and asked for
advice on which computer language to learn in order to program for
Linux.  The language I chose was C.  The book to learn from, "Practical
C Programming" O'reilly.  Well I tried to make my first program "Hello
World" following the instructions in the book and guess what, I couldn't
get it to work.  If I can't learn to do the first simple program, from
supposedly one of the best books to learn C in the Linux environment,
I'm in trouble.  I was wondering if any of you know of an email list
such as Debian User's but for people learning C in the Linux
environment?  I looked for tutorials online for programming in Linux but
didn't find what I was looking for.  I'm new to Linux and haven't
learned a computer language before.  I'm thinking about possibly going
to school to learn programming but I'd like to try learning some myself
before I take the big plunge.  Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Kent