Studying Linux

[jasebert]

Hello Linux land.

I do not like linux at the moment, but I am in the process of learning more about it to further my horizons. Before I continue, I am a microsoft person, I like Microsoft. I have used linux very little, and I do not like linux because I do not know it. Think of me as an operating system racist. And on this topic, Banyan vines ruled because it was the first NOS to come up with a directory structure, called Street talk. Street talk then because slang and Banyan vines is now known as pot....

Anyway... I have been shown a study track for people like me so I can learn Linux. Red Hat offer a course for peope who are used to Windows called RH035 - Red Hat Linux Essentials for Windows Professionals. I clean windows very well, so I think this would be a good course to go on. I then saw RH133 System Administration and I can get certified on the last day of the course. I need to get a Linux certification for work, and was wondering basically what people think of the Red Hat training (I am not paying for it, work is) or if I should look at something else, like Comptia or LPI.

Any help would be greatly appeciated.

[Jimma]

My help would be to advise something other than Linux, such as NetBSD.

[Aardvark]

Install debian on there, then dive in head first, with just man and --help to guide you. You'll be a guru in no time flat

[skozombie]

I was talking to a few of the LPI guys in the early days of them setting up and they grab me as a really great group, so if I was ever to get certification for myself, they are who i would go with.

On the other hand, Red Hat would probably be more recognised, even if it is distribution specific.

As for recommending distros, go ubuntu, its like debian, but they update stable packages more than yearly ;)

[jasebert]

Thanks for the ideas. Basically I need the cert for work, and they are paying for a course (it is to do with proposals and if my work can say they have a Linux team, they feel they would have a more complete solution type thing). And I was looking at LPI but I mean it looks to me that the Red Hat cert is more recognised. But from my understanding, most Linux distros are basically the same arent they?

[ewe2]

And I was looking at LPI but I mean it looks to me that the Red Hat cert is more recognised. But from my understanding, most Linux distros are basically the same arent they?


Well there's the RHAT way of doing things, and then there's everyone else basically. Much of the difference is in administration tools and filesystem layout. I'd get familiar with a Redhat installation and a Debian one and you've covered much of current distro philosophy. Perhaps a SuSE user out there can give pointers to that distro since I'm unfamiliar with it but it appears to be more on the Debian side of the distro fence.

[jasebert]

ewe2, so are you saying it is still worth studying Red Hat and then getting familiar with Debian, or are they so different that it would be hard to grasp one or the other?
I suppose what I am asking is that if I study Red Hat and become Red Hat certified, would it be easy to then navigate around Debian or really I would have to study Debian also?

[goss]

It's really only the tools that are different, the concepts and basic commands are similar between distros... having said that, the tools can be *very* different, but they are all there as a layer over the command line stuff and config files, once you get right down to it.

Red Hat cert is definately the way to go I'd say, as an industry linux standard. But after that - just play around with it, see if you can setup a web server, fileshare, print server etc. best way to learn. Still trying some of that myself.

And for books, aside from RH material, go for O'Reilly of course.

[anothe]

My help would be to advise something other than Linux, such as NetBSD.
bsd ftw! i want to try iittt!

[ewe2]

What goss said. Just make yourself familiar with the Debian-based distros and the differences. 95% of it is all about admin tools, /etc and filesystem layout.


Get yourself a copy of Essential System Administration (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0596003439/qid=1142303720/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl/026-2794919-1252465). This is the bible. Its 3rd edition covers old Red Hat and SuSE distros and a FreeBSD, but it doesnt try to be too up to date, its more about the concepts of Unix administration. If you need another book, you probably haven't read this one thoroughly enough. You should be able to apply its knowlege to any linux or Unix.