Linux, Graduation, and Future...

[Jo.Mo.]

I'm going to be a Senior in high school this up-and-coming year, and i need a little guidance from the great JL participants. My problem is that, being from Iowa, i really don't know where the action in computer buisness is really at, especially the linux portion. I would like suggestions on where i should be moving too from here, because i can't stay in Iowa unless i want to network corn, and Windows corn at that. I also need suggestions on what i should use my time studying during the last year of high school.

Right now:
Took College CCNA Course (4 Semesters, B Average)
About to get my CCNA
About to get Network+
About to get A+
I've got HTML Skills like Crazy (who doesn't?)
a little Perl
Running an Apache Server (only for the purpose of learning the ins & outs of web serving)
Various other talents

My only real Goal is to not get stuck in a cubicle, i'd prefer working for a small linux outfit. Any suggestions on a path in life would be magnificent, who better to ask then the ones who know the world?

[CMonster]

Decide what area of computing you are most interested in and persure at least bachelors degree related to that specialty. Don't be too concerned with the whole Linux><Windows thing, stay well versed in both -and if you like money stay very current with Windows... the millions of MS sheep are always in need of fleecing... "okay... now did the ISP give you a static IP address?" --"IP ad...?" <booming>$CHA-Ching!$</booming> "I'll be right there... BTW, my rate is $85 an hour :) "

[Parcival]

I suggest you check out the computer science departement of UMN (http://www1.umn.edu/systemwide/indexsys.shtml). I guess that's the geographically closest and best U in the neighborhood for you.

Besides, the UMN is mirroring (http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/owasp/install_WebGoat-2.0_unix.jar?download) sourceforge, so you'll surely find Linux geeks there. Oh, and here's the Twin Cities LUG (http://www.mn-linux.org/), they surely have one or two bits of advice, too.

Awww, Iowa, what a wonderful state... all those memories... :) :)

[Jo.Mo.]

true, they do need alot of fleecing. I've done alot of tech. support for people in this town, but it's not really my main interest, i have a hard time dealing with the "i want you to fix this without rebooting, and i don't want to loose any files, or for you to take up my soft tupperware drive space (someone actually said softtupperware once)" My main interest is networking & internet, because i'm good at both. I'm thinking of waiting on college until i can get settled down in a new area, considering i'll have 0 support from my family. What i'm basically looking for is a place to start off. anyone live in a town that's in great need of networking?

[Diji]

Waiting till you get settled to go back to college can be good and bad.

On the good side, companies you will apply to later love to hear that you have good on-the-job experience... not just in your field, but in dealing with people and the corporate world in particular.

On the bad side... unless you're lucky, the best you will prolly hope for is customer service and call center. Not saying that's a bad thing... its what I have been doing for 5 years, but it carries with it certain quirks. For one, its mentally and emotionally draining... to have people ask the same crappy questions day in and day out, gets old. Most of these places also tend to pay crap, and treat their people like crap... although there are some good places.

There's also the simple fact that, like most human beings, you will settle into a routine. This will make it a bit harder to go back to school. If you can really motivate yourself to do it, then you might be fine, but if you have a doubt, then its probably best to go to school.

Like any 2 roads diverged in a yellow wood, either will lead to some good and some bad... its all about what you want in the end.

Good luck.

My $.02 for what its worth...

[shakin]

There are two paths into the computing industry as a techie: development and administration. Each of those paths is broad, so you should choose one. Finding a job doing both is possible with a small company, but one should be your specialty and the other a hobby.

I see the largest potential with Linux to be deploying new solutions to companies looking to move from legacy Unix or Windows systems. Learning how to properly setup a firewall, email/groupware server, web server, database server, etc is a good start. If you can adequately migrate systems from Windows to Linux then you can work as either a consultant or permanent employee quite easily, so your options are open.

Development is more flexible, but it will be harder to find a job that you can work on Linux most of the time. A web development job using Java (JSP/Servlets and EJBs on Tomcat, Websphere, Weblogic, etc) will get you there. Most non-web programming jobs are using VB or .NET to build financial apps or stuff like that.