Sorry I wasn't very clear, but I can't find the old version of the web-site by Zed Shaw. It was a free tutorial and it sounds like it was in the same format that the OP was looking for. I can find the current web-site for the paid course and book.
Are you implying there is an easy way to learn Vim? :)
I remember the "Learn Python the Hard Way" web-site, but I'm having trouble even finding that. It looks like there is a book and a course instead. I wonder if the web-site version of these courses were eventually phased out?
I think it makes sense for them to emphasize a strong understanding of the fundamentals. It will help those students who later want to go into data science as well.
It's tough because everything is a subscription now. In the early days of steaming products like Netflix was great because you had access to so much for a small price. Now subscriptions services are so granular so you really have to pick and choose.
This is done with clinical trials (or at least it's recommended). Many researchers register their study at https://clinicaltrials.gov/ before data collection starts. I'm not sure if something similar exists for lab based research.