Linux as my Career Choice

[Noah_ZA]

Hi guys.

I havent been able to find any local forums to linux newbies like myself, i have turned to you guys for advice

Ive always been interested in the world of IT, ever since the age of 11 ive been around PC's, working with them, repairing, tinkering etc.

I just finished my degree (in something im no longer interested in doing) and had a meeting with a company that explained to me how linux works/what i can do/capabilities etc. Ive never actually used linux before but from what ive seen and heard it sounds revolutionary, and i would like to pursue a career with Linux. However i dont really know where to begin.

I was told that i should start with the Linux Professional Institute Certs. As i have no experience with linux whatsoever, i have decided to start with essentials. I plan on just writing the exam as i believe i can learn the basics without doing a R7000 course. Is this a good idea? And where do i go from here? Do i chase LPIC-1/2/3? Do i pursue multiple IT certs (Comptia/CTIL/A+/N+)? What would be better for starting a career in linux? What distros should i teach myself?

So far ive managed to install CentOS 6.5 and am currently tinkering with the shell and basic command line.

What do i do to better my chances with Linux employers?

Thanks in advance !

 

[Sinbad]

Hi guys.

I havent been able to find any local forums to linux newbies like myself, i have turned to you guys for advice

Ive always been interested in the world of IT, ever since the age of 11 ive been around PC's, working with them, repairing, tinkering etc.

I just finished my degree (in something im no longer interested in doing) and had a meeting with a company that explained to me how linux works/what i can do/capabilities etc. Ive never actually used linux before but from what ive seen and heard it sounds revolutionary, and i would like to pursue a career with Linux. However i dont really know where to begin.

I was told that i should start with the Linux Professional Institute Certs. As i have no experience with linux whatsoever, i have decided to start with essentials. I plan on just writing the exam as i believe i can learn the basics without doing a R7000 course. Is this a good idea? And where do i go from here? Do i chase LPIC-1/2/3? Do i pursue multiple IT certs (Comptia/CTIL/A+/N+)? What would be better for starting a career in linux? What distros should i teach myself?

So far ive managed to install CentOS 6.5 and am currently tinkering with the shell and basic command line.

What do i do to better my chances with Linux employers?

Thanks in advance !

You don't say where you are, but if you're in Gauteng, maybe get hold of MagicDude4Eva on here and ask him if he has any internships going?

 

[SauRoNZA]

I wouldn't start with LPI. It's a terrible exam that doesn't really teach you much of the real world.

In fact I would say do the course...but ignore the exam as the course will teach you more.

If you want to go the education route then do the Red Hat stuff instead. Or just buy the books and work through them.


If you really want to learn though...just install the SERVER versions on a spare PC and do the real world stuff like setting up Web Servers, Email and Network shares.

Make a backup solution for yourself that syncs every night on schedule etc etc.

****

I see you've installed CentOS already so you are on the right track. If you don't know this already CentOS is basically Red Hat so you'll find the courseware is much the same.

 

[byronsn]

Hi,
I'm totally new to linux as well, although i have tried a distro or two in the past as a possible OS. Just signed up to do a free course on edx.org. give it a look.

 

[Noah_ZA]

Yeah sorry im in Gauteng alright thanks ill contact him!

 

[AntiGanda]

Hi guys.

I havent been able to find any local forums to linux newbies like myself, i have turned to you guys for advice

Ive always been interested in the world of IT, ever since the age of 11 ive been around PC's, working with them, repairing, tinkering etc.

I just finished my degree (in something im no longer interested in doing) and had a meeting with a company that explained to me how linux works/what i can do/capabilities etc. Ive never actually used linux before but from what ive seen and heard it sounds revolutionary, and i would like to pursue a career with Linux. However i dont really know where to begin.

I was told that i should start with the Linux Professional Institute Certs. As i have no experience with linux whatsoever, i have decided to start with essentials. I plan on just writing the exam as i believe i can learn the basics without doing a R7000 course. Is this a good idea? And where do i go from here? Do i chase LPIC-1/2/3? Do i pursue multiple IT certs (Comptia/CTIL/A+/N+)? What would be better for starting a career in linux? What distros should i teach myself?

So far ive managed to install CentOS 6.5 and am currently tinkering with the shell and basic command line.

What do i do to better my chances with Linux employers?

Thanks in advance !

I wouldn't say Linux is revolutionary. It's derived from UNIX, which is ancient.

What are your interests? Do you aim to be a Linux administrator or do you want just to work on the Linux platform? It's a product that you need to get hands on with to be really good. It can be very frustrating since it needs a lot of tinkering at lower levels than most other OS's.

 

[Noah_ZA]

I wouldn't start with LPI. It's a terrible exam that doesn't really teach you much of the real world.

In fact I would say do the course...but ignore the exam as the course will teach you more.

If you want to go the education route then do the Red Hat stuff instead. Or just buy the books and work through them.


If you really want to learn though...just install the SERVER versions on a spare PC and do the real world stuff like setting up Web Servers, Email and Network shares.

Make a backup solution for yourself that syncs every night on schedule etc etc.

****

I see you've installed CentOS already so you are on the right track. If you don't know this already CentOS is basically Red Hat so you'll find the courseware is much the same.

I see. What would be a good server version to get hold of as a start? And where would be a good place to learn how to install web/email/network servers?

 

[Noah_ZA]

I wouldn't say Linux is revolutionary. It's derived from UNIX, which is ancient.

What are your interests? Do you aim to be a Linux administrator or do you want just to work on the Linux platform? It's a product that you need to get hands on with to be really good. It can be very frustrating since it needs a lot of tinkering at lower levels than most other OS's.

At the moment I would just like to learn more about it to get a better understanding of what it all entails. Generally I really enjoy all types of tinkering, sorting problems out etc. Which is why linux seems as if id enjoy it.

 

[Zipkoppie]

Career wise a certification or two wouldn't hurt, I think your best bet would be going with the Red Hat certs, I think they are more in demand than others. You should also research and think about what exactly you want to do, ie security, administration, programming, etc and base your choice of certification on that.

As far as which distro you should learn, Debian is a good choice, a lot of other distros are based on debian.

If you want to go all hardcore and want to learn the finer details of the inner workings of the OS, then you should have a look at Linux from scratch or Gentoo, but only after you've learned the basics.

 

[Rocket-Boy]

The easiest way to learn linux is to set yourself a series of tasks and figure out how to do them.
I used to recommend getting a hp micorserver and using that as a home server for the tasks, but they are expensive these days so a VM will also do.
Basic things to get it doing:
- use as an internet gateway/proxy
- build a fileserver
- DHCP server
- Webserver/mail relay

Once you learn how to set those things up then it will have given you a chance to get to know the command line a little better and understand how linux works.
Dont do anything from a graphical interface, just dont, in fact dont install one to begin with.

I dont like linux as a desktop OS but its great for serving environments.

 

[ginggs]

http://mybroadband.co.za/news/busin...o-land-a-high-paying-job-in-south-africa.html

 

[Noah_ZA]

The easiest way to learn linux is to set yourself a series of tasks and figure out how to do them.
I used to recommend getting a hp micorserver and using that as a home server for the tasks, but they are expensive these days so a VM will also do.
Basic things to get it doing:
- use as an internet gateway/proxy
- build a fileserver
- DHCP server
- Webserver/mail relay

Once you learn how to set those things up then it will have given you a chance to get to know the command line a little better and understand how linux works.
Dont do anything from a graphical interface, just dont, in fact dont install one to begin with.

I dont like linux as a desktop OS but its great for serving environments.

I was given the same advice not to use a GUI for my own benefit. Would an idea be to install CentOS onto my laptop as it's primary OS? and learn from there. Im also not very familiar with using VMware, the only one ive used is virtualbox and i wasnt really able to do much exploring...

 

[shadow_man]

I wouldn't start with LPI. It's a terrible exam that doesn't really teach you much of the real world.

In fact I would say do the course...but ignore the exam as the course will teach you more.

If you want to go the education route then do the Red Hat stuff instead. Or just buy the books and work through them.


If you really want to learn though...just install the SERVER versions on a spare PC and do the real world stuff like setting up Web Servers, Email and Network shares.

Make a backup solution for yourself that syncs every night on schedule etc etc.

****

I see you've installed CentOS already so you are on the right track. If you don't know this already CentOS is basically Red Hat so you'll find the courseware is much the same.

Don't tell mcx that. He's under the impression that LPIC1 > RHCSA and LPIC2 > RHCE...

I gave up arguing with him.