dilemmas galore

[KV...THE VAIB.. ..WAKI WAKI....]

hi all.
i'm a beginner at UNIX/LINUX.presently i have opensuse 10.3 installed
on my computer.i am basically a c/cpp/java programmer and soon would
be joining the IT industry.i am very enthusiastic about the shell and
would like to study unix\linux through the command line.along with
that i would also like to study operating systems in depth with hands-
on and practical approach on linux\unix OSs.for this reason i have
picked up an operating systems book by gary nutt which teaches through
examples of unix\windows and for reference i have 'the unix
programming environment' by Brian Kernighan but i'm not finding the my
OS book to be providing me with solid concrete concepts ( although it
has good examples and very good lab exercises).
Henceforth i'm an a little dilemma and as always i've turned to
usenet.it would be very appreciative of people(and nerds) out there to
help me out with the following questions :

1)how much is unix different from linux? i know linux is a simulation
of unix and i can see its source code but is it advisable to learn
from a unix book and practise on linux ? i want to learn both .
2)kindly suggest 2-3 simple,good(not at all boring),usefull and
standard books or/and sites for unix and linux.
3)kindly suggest 2-3 simple,good and conceptual books or/and sites for
operating systems that teach the subject through unix\linux approach.
thanking in anticipation. vaib.