Sorry if I wasn't clear enough. I just want to move out of using gnome for Ubuntu and become a 'power user' ( for the lack of a better term, but I hope you get the point - someone who knows the UNIX system inside out - and is able enough to help people troubleshoot, and so on. I hope my definition of 'power user' was good enough. If I'm wrong, then I'm sorry and please feel free to correct me.

Are you comfortable using the command line and nothing else? There is a lot you can learn by being able to configure, diagnose and fix systems using only the core tools. Once you have that under control, you might want to compile and install specific device drivers. Oh, BTW, I recommend using an old, spare PC. Maybe try TinyCore or DamnSmall Linux rather than something as complete as Ubuntu.

Well I think you're mixing your terms. If you want to be good at building linux distros, learn LFS. If you have got nothing else to do, learn LFS. Otherwise, learn whatever the thing is that you consider a power user is good at.