Linux for IT jobs

Screen print above, from the Dell web site, indicates that Dell, and, we would imagine, all major PC manufacturers, considers Linux to be important. If you go to this web site's blog page, you see Dell employees spending Dell revenue to get Linux users working when Linux problems come up.

Notice that the screen print mentions Linux right after Microsoft. Following Linux are Solaris, a commercial Unix, and the databases that the world's biggest commercial enterprises are built on.

From the Linux entry on Wikipedia, "It is a leading operating system on servers and other big iron systems ... 90% of today's 500 fastest supercomputers run some variant of Linux ... also runs on embedded systems ... such as mobile phones, tablet computers, network routers, televisions and video game consoles; the Android system in wide use on mobile devices is built on the Linux kernel."

A message from this is that any tech-minded person spends his time well in learning some Linux.

Interview with Chris Zietlow, principal at Spyderbytedesign.com in Augusta, a Drupal business

Q: Thinking about IT careers, what can Linux knowledge do for a young person?

A: "I think that Linux is the future, and not just in IT. While I'm not sure Linux will ever outnumber Microsoft Windows in home computers, Linux powers mobile devices, servers, medical technology, and supercomputers. Learning Linux is only beneficial for our youth." Work toward Cisco Certified Network Associate. [Network+ and Security+ are also goals.] People who like to tinker like Linux.

Q: Is an old computer, one just lying around the house, usable for Linux learning?

A: "Yes, I've done it several times before. I have a couple Linux servers I've created out of old PCs. Especially with Arch-Linux and other extremely lightweight Linux distros. Look at the things people are doing with Raspberry Pi," the $35 computer on a board. [RPi] An old PC could be a router, DNS server, light-HTTP server, or database server. It just needs a NIC. [network interface card, to get an Ethernet port]

Xubuntu is a lightweight Linux that is good for an older PC. Beware that using the repartitioning utility at the start of a Linux install often renders a Windows installation useless. Instead of installing Linux by opening up new partitions, consider downloading free Wubi which is Ubuntu running as an application within Windows.

A server based on Linux is usually easier to deal with than a server based on a Windows Server product. Likewise, dealing with Linux configuration files is easier than Windows registry.

[Linux tends to work better on old hardware. Linux developers, usually making their contributions for free, need time to get drivers working. Users of Nvidia graphics cards sometimes find no Linux support, but comparing ATI and Nvidia on blogs reveals a mixed story.]

Q: Is wired networking (cat 5e, unshielded twisted pair, Ethernet cables) going to give way to wireless?

A: The security and speed of wired networking means it is here to stay. Look for the price of fiber from your Internet Service Provider to come down.

Q: Are IT careers in the next 20 years better served by a 2-year or 4-year degree?

A: "I think traditional IT careers are better served with a two-year degree. IT environments are too rapidly changing for a four-year degree. Of course, higher order technology like security management should still require a four-year degree."

Q: Two directions for IT are servicing social media and the big commercial databases like Oracle and SAP. What is the long-term prospect for jobs in these fields?

A: Databases are just growing and growing. [Considering how Facebook took over from MySpace in 2009,] it is not likely that Facebook will be around in ten years, but there will be replacements, and they are just giant databases.

Check out virtualbox.org for free virtualization [see Wikipedia], it is increasingly used.

Q: Solder and Circuits in Grovetown offers hardware and software to let young people experience installs and configurations. Is this valuable?

A: There are several sources of this kind of learning. It is especially useful to build up an operating system, test speed, then repartition and build it back with various RAID flavors and see what happens. You can also build a RAID 1, unplug a drive, and see if the system rebuilds itself like it should.

Chris Zietlow said that the Augusta tech community is encouraging youth and women to participate. Aug 1, 2012

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