Koha - The instant regret

I have decided, for my project, to get Koha installed and up and running. Why Koha? To be perfectly honest, at the time of posting this, I was regretting my decision just a little bit (well a lot). I want to learn how to install Koha because my library (a government library) is looking at moving from its current Library Management System (LMS), which is Notebooks (part of Lotus Notes) to a different system. We have looked into various free and commercial LMS, but have decided to try Koha. I would like to see if I can learn the skills needed to install and run this software, as the cost of getting this done by another company is a not unsubstantial. I am also interested in learning these skills for myself, as I think they will enhance my understanding of how to create and run a server, as well as some programming skills. I have also never worked with a command line, so I am interested working with this.

The reason I say I am regretting this is, although I believe I am reasonably technically competent, I didn't release just how involved Koha was, nor how many technical skills I would need to implement it. In other words, I think I may have bitten off more than I can chew.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/95771929547015404/

I was being a bit naive thinking that it would be like most other software, and would just require installation and simple customisation. I quickly figured out this is not the case. I will need to acquire knowledge of Debian Squeeze, Apache, MySQL, and Perl.

For this reason, I had decided to just try and get a version of Koha installed, and running, and hopefully add a few items to the catalogue. I will set smaller goals and try and achieve each of these, rather than the ultimate goal of having a version of Koha completely up and running.