I am new to mining and rather new to cryptocurrencies. I have an idea to add some heat to the basement of our house as well as learn more about the cryptocurrency world, and therefore I am considering to start hobby mining. I would like some pointers from you experienced people.

I figure some kind of hassle-free solution that is rather easy to set up an maintain will suit my requiremnts. I have red that a GPU rig might be a good option for newcomers, and in many cases quite a few currencies can be mined with a GPU rig.

I certainly prefer Linux before Windows, and I don't want to be locked in with a single currency.

Any pointers?