|
[Date Prev] [Date Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]
|
Re: [PLUG] Should I study Linux or NT first?
|
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1
On Wednesday 13 December 2000 17:33, you wrote:
> All at PLUG:
>
> I am currently Novell CNE qualified and want to qualify further in the
> IT field.
>
> I really want to do a Linux qual next (LPI), but think that the market
> place demands NT.
Oops!
Actually, thanks to name recognition, MCSE's are nearly a dime a dozen. That
certification, contrary to popular belief, doesn't mean shit to a tree.
My company (CIGNA), for instance, is looking for people with some computer
education (read that *real* education from a college-- not bloody vendor
courses) to work in the mainframe environment. So we went to this
recruitment fair at a local community college and got about 75 resumes-- all
useless, most with MCSE certifications. That tells you something. If MCSE
is such hot shit, then why are these MCSE's searching for work at a junior
college job fair?
Mainframe is experiencing something of a rennaissance and is fairly easy to
get into. CIGNA, for instance, is looking at a good percentage of its
mainframe expertise retiring in the next five years or so, an no one to
replace them. If I were able to choose my path today, I'd get all the skinny
on mainframe (both S/390 and Linux) I could as fast as I could. (Mainframe
also pays better than NT too).
People choose NT because it's easy. It doesn't take a real genius to learn
what you need to to become certified, it' a well-trodden path, and the system
itself caters to people who don't know what they're doing. I'm not saying
there are no smart people who do NT, but from my personal experience, it
takes a lot more chops to cut it in the Unix world than in the NT. NT is
easier to learn, but NT doesn't reward experience like Unices do.
I've just recently made the transition from NT to Unix, and I can also tell
you that NT is hard to get away from. You can get a job with an MCSE, but
it's almost like your branded a Microsoft person.
>
> If I do some NT exams, will the industry let me get away with just a
> couple of MCPs or do I need to do the full MCSE? I don't really want
> to, since I'm NOT a microsoft fan!
Then don't!
> I would like to study a lot more about Linux, but am afraid that I will
> be losing time if this doesn't help me in the job market in the same way
> of NT would. I will have to do *some* NT at some stage.....
You've got it backwards. With Linux, there's no need to ever stop learning
more and more. NT is a dead end, technologically speaking. You'd be wasting
your time, especially since Linux deployments far out pace Win2K deployments
at the moment.
> I'm also assuming that if I study Linux, the employers will look on it
> as a UNIX clone knowledge if UNIX background is sought. Is this
> realistic?
In my situation, my experience at home with Linux helped me get a Unix job.
I told them about how I built my network, firewall, Samba server, etc. Linux
will definitely help you out there.
Remember, Unix is not an operating system as much as a philosophy of how
things are done. From that perspective, Linux is more Unix than Unix.
I hate to see anyone who wants to do Linux or Unix think they have to start
with Windows. That's not the case at all. If I had it to do all over again,
I'd learn Linux first. windows got me in the door, but it was a hard habit
to break (like heroin). It would have been much easier to do what I really
wanted to first than it was to switch.
>
> regs
> rupert heesom
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________________
> Philadelphia Linux Users Group - http://www.phillylinux.org
> Announcements-http://lists.phillylinux.org/mail/listinfo/plug-announce
> General Discussion - http://lists.phillylinux.org/mail/listinfo/plug
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.0.4 (GNU/Linux)
Comment: For info see http://www.gnupg.org
iD8DBQE6OBAVfl/jvXmUpXERAn2qAKCKkSYczRD+ntzonCLN10Q0Qd5CGwCfer81
owph4yje8tjWpWuEdWCGy9k=
=39OB
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
______________________________________________________________________
Philadelphia Linux Users Group - http://www.phillylinux.org
Announcements-http://lists.phillylinux.org/mail/listinfo/plug-announce
General Discussion - http://lists.phillylinux.org/mail/listinfo/plug
|
|