Linux Administration

[jedthehumanoid]

the following is a stream-of-consciousness rant:

i work as an autocad draftsmen at a civil engineering firm. i make decent money but nothing to write home about. my job is easy. REALLY easy. because of this, i've started to learn a lot about IT related things in our office and have done some chores to help out our IT staff. because of my geeky love for computers, i've found that for the most part, it comes rather naturally for me. i'm strongly considering going back to school in order to change my field once and for all as i've found that the personal satisfaction level for drafting to be rather low. it just doesn't evolve fast enough.

here's what i'm getting at... i don't want to study windows. i think windows is s*&t, and it's a lot less logical than linux (or any other unix varient that i've seen thus far.) but i'm not sure how the job market would be for linux IT work. i mean every office that has computers these days has a network, BUT most of them seem to use windows. now i'm betting that most of the people that read and post to this forum are probably admins of one form or another, so to you i'm asking, how is the market? i've looked in the paper and seen very little for job openings but maybe i'm looking the wrong way. what do you think?

[Alex Cavnar, aka alc6379]

What I've found is that you should learn Windows as well as Linux if you want to get anywhere with the "average shop".

Many administrators these days grow up in the environment of "Where's the GUI?". In fact, in the Applied Networking class I recently completed, that was the most frequently asked question when I demonstrated nmap on a Debian 2.2 install as my class presentation, that was the most frequently asked question I recieved.

Apparently, because of Windows and Mac operating systems, new IT managers think that if it isn't GUI, it's not worth their time. This lack of regard for the almost always more powerful command line makes them overlook *NIX solutions, as those solutions usually require you to enter "cryptic" (to them) commands and edit config files with a *gasp* text editor.

If you really wanted to get in good, learn both Windows and Linux. Go into a Windows shop, and really show them your skills in Windows. Then, as situations allow, try wedging a Linux server into the mix. Need a quick and dirty webserver? Set up a Linux box running Apache. Need to put a fileshare on the LAN? Learn to set up Samba, and have all of their Windows boxes talk to your Samba server. Heck, you could get bold and set up a sendmail server to get their intra-office mail running.

Don't go trying to change over their whole infrastructure or anything. If Windows is what they're comfortable with, let them stick with Windows. But, fit Linux into the puzzle when it fits.

Non-IT, non-tech people are weird about computing, even when they're CEO's and other higher-ups in the corporate ladder. If they're happy with their 286 laptops running Windows for Workgroups 3.1, let them keep it, unless you have a specific app that requires you to change their setup. The best thing to do is go in there, and make what they've got work well. If you can include Linux in that scenario, more power to you.

From what I've seen so far, having Linux experience on your resume won't get you anything but an "oh, that's nice." But, if you can land a job in Windows land, there will be opportunities for you to use Linux. If you can get things to work, and you can manage to show your bosses how much money you saved by running Linux, you'll probably become a valued member of their workforce. Then, when the next time a project comes along, maybe the higher ups will actually suggest using Linux in that project.

[christos]

I'd just like to say that you have clearly got your head screwed on well.
Those are the sort of tactics that can work.

Thanks for the sound advice!!

chris

[jedthehumanoid]

thanks alex. your advice is pretty much what my guts have been telling me. and it makes sense. but i very much appriciate the words of wisdom. but i suppose the best way to talk a boss into letting you use linux is to say, guess what, it will not cost a thing to put linux on that old box there in the corner and it will do what that newer one does without crashing.:D so you stand to lose nothing.