I did a lot of research when buying a beginner’s how-to book to learn guitar, and I kept being directed to Uncle Tim’s First Year. I would highly recommend buying this inexpensive book and following the lessons. He does offer a free eBook, but it’s a Windows-ified PDF and I am a Mac user. It seems to offer some of the introductory lessons from the full book, which should allow you to see if it’s something that suits you.
This book more than exceeded my expectations. I blew my guitar playing friends away after only 3 months. And it’s structured to be something you can continue to learn from for years and years. He has a very cool way of explaining the fretboard that allows you to “get it” quickly, and then delve deeper into it if you so choose.
There’s a nice blend of hands-on practice & music theory as he ramps up the exercises. I became better at guitar in 6 months than I thought I would in maybe 5 years, and it was all from this book.