For learning linux, the best thing to do would be to Google something along the lines of "linux basics" and just look around throughout those.
Now about the best build, that's up to you to decide. IMHO the best thing to do is try many different builds until you find the one you like. Some of the best known builds are Fedora, Slackware, SUSE, Mandrake, and Debian. I'd try a couple of builds that have "live-eval" versions, which let you run Linux off a CD before you download the full package.
confuse .................... 
Linear Mode
