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Sorry to lower the tone with more nerd stuff. Having recently started a v crap IT job I think I need to burnish my CV with some Linux/Unix skillz - something I can get easily and run under Virtual PC. Any recommendations...?
Joined: Feb 13, 2005 Posts: 3962 Location: The Rock Boudoir
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You can run live distributions straight from a CD (big list here), but if you want install something under Virtual PC, then there are loads for you to try out.
Ubuntu is a good start for linux noobs, but it tends to hide some of the gubbins behind the scenes. You will probably learn less about linux this way, but it'll be a good starter jsut to whet your appetite.
It's based on the Debian distribution. Debian is more hardcore that Ubuntu in terms of its install procedure and general configuration and maintenance, but functions in a very similar fashion once installed.
OpenSUSE is fast becoming a contender, but I've never used it.
Fedora is also quite good (I use it at work), but it does have some niggly things that I don't particularly like. However, it's a good starting distro too.
Hope this helps, but there really are far too many linux distros to mention. Go to www.distrowatch.com and have a shufty on there, especially the distro list on the right hand side.... _________________ Keep up with local events and plug your own gigs!
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Joined: Feb 16, 2005 Posts: 1359 Location: Norwich
I'd recommend starting with something like debian as it offers a fair amount of flexibility and is quite good about letting you see what's going on behind the scenes but does also hold your hand a fair bit.
After you've got to grips with the whole GNU/linux thing, I'd seriously recommend trying out a really hardcore distro like slackware or an LFS build to really solidify your knowledge of how everything fits together.
Once you've done that, you'll be in a good place to choose a distro that works best for you.
Joined: Feb 13, 2005 Posts: 3962 Location: The Rock Boudoir
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Aye good thoughts from Stilv - I'd always vote for Debian personally. Steeper learning curve, but still friendly enough to make more tiresome tasks easier (package management is the obvious one). Gentoo's similar, but in a different way - you build ('emerge') everything from a central repository of source packages ('portage') instead of installing prebuilt packages ('binaries') - you can install binaries in Gentoo though, you do still have the option. That'll teach you loads about building source packages and how linux is built on C code. _________________ Keep up with local events and plug your own gigs!
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I'm not sure of the relationship between Unix/Linux - I get the impression Linux is a kind of desktop spinoff from the Unix server OS or something like that? How similar are they?
Joined: Feb 13, 2005 Posts: 3962 Location: The Rock Boudoir
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UNIX was written by Ken Thompson in the late 60s (nigh on single-handedly I might add, in assembly. Fucking insane), so UNIX and similar variants have been around for nearly 40 years and originally ran on mainframes (massive glorified tape drives). The original Bell Labs UNIX written by Thompson and others was proprietary and couldn't be edited or modified by anyone, as were future versions of UNIX such as those developed by AT&T.
Linux is a Minix (another form of UNIX) clone, the start of which was initially written by Linus Torvalds in the early 90s. He didn't like some things about Minix and decided to write his own UNIX clone. Some tools called GNU, developed in the mid 80s by Richard Stallman, that were intended to form a fully-fledged operating system, but never got that far (it was missing a kernel) were free and useful, so Linus decided to include these GNU tools in his new operating system. So the GNU tools plus Linus' kernel became what is now Linux (or properly, GNU/Linux).
So essentially Linux is a free UNIX-like OS. BSD and Solaris are also free UNIX clones which have some similarities to both the later incarnations of UNIX (System V for example) and Linux, but are still quite different. _________________ Keep up with local events and plug your own gigs!
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Joined: Feb 16, 2005 Posts: 2045 Location: norwich
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UNIX and POSIX tend to get used interchangably. Both UNIX and LINUX are both POSIX compliant operating systems. Yet most people just say that LINUX is a type of UNIX. _________________
...so when organisations like the UEA and County Hall, say, go on about their UNIX servers, what are they likely to be talking about...? Solaris or something...? (I know my Windows servers, but I need to get so I can bluff my way through a job description that says "UNIX experience required". There seems to be a lot of it about.)
Take this job description for instance.
Quote:
Experience and skills in Windows Server 2003, Unix and VMware ESX are required as is knowledge of MOM 2005, SMS 2003, Active Directory, Exchange and Database Management.
Joined: Feb 13, 2005 Posts: 3962 Location: The Rock Boudoir
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BJG wrote:
...so when organisations like the UEA and County Hall, say, go on about their UNIX servers, what are they likely to be talking about...? Solaris or something...? (I know my Windows servers, but I need to get so I can bluff my way through a job description that says "UNIX experience required". There seems to be a lot of it about.)
There are so many variants of UNIX that they could well be talking about any number of them. As long as you have experience in one of them, you should be able to apply your knowledge to others. Most UNIX and UNIX-like clones and variants will have similar filesystems, similar kernel management, similar shells, programs and interfaces. By no means the same by any stretch, but similar enough for you to amble your way through an interview. For example, I use Linux 100% of the time every day at work and home, but I'm sure I could find my way around FreeBSD or IRIX.
Quote:
Take this job description for instance.
Quote:
Experience and skills in Windows Server 2003, Unix and VMware ESX are required as is knowledge of MOM 2005, SMS 2003, Active Directory, Exchange and Database Management.
They could be on about anything - as long as you learn something about one type of Unix-like OS, you should be OK. They really should put "Unix-like OS", unless you really will be dealing with proper System V Unix (unlikely as it was released in 1988) or one of its descendants (UnixWare 7.x for example). It looks like they would prefer experience in virtualisation more than anything by those specs. Virtualisation is ITs current Hot Topic (TM). _________________ Keep up with local events and plug your own gigs!
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Network support is tough these days. You're expected to know about everything, usually for rubbish pay. The above ad could easily have listed half a dozen entirely different things like Citrix, Cisco, Netware and NAS management. I think the professional programmer has a much easier time.
Just waiting fo Eclipse to finish downloading and I'll get back to my Java studies...
Joined: Feb 13, 2005 Posts: 3962 Location: The Rock Boudoir
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Pay for Junior network support is shit yes, but you can earn shitloads being a Senior DBA, usually more than a Senior programmer. That said, I just found a pisseasy PHP and JAVA coding job in Cambridge, where top-whack salary was £45k. 45000 smackers!?!?!? I'm leaving my shitty paid academic job and earning some real money.... _________________ Keep up with local events and plug your own gigs!
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