Unix college course

tdh

Hey Everyone,

I am hoping to do a software course next year and I wanted to get peoples opinions on what would be a good course for someone who is really interested in unix.
I have enough experience with it to know that I would love to work with it full time in future. I am not completely sure what jobs would feature alot of work in this area.. systems administrator? developer using linux as their operating system?

I would very much appreciate if someone to recommend me so really good college courses that I could check out. Thanks alot:)

Tom Dunne

Most computer science courses would have a Unix component in them. Operating systems and web development modules are generally done on Unix.

First step, pick a college/university near you and look up such courses.

tdh

Thanks very much for the reply Tom.

I checked my local college but they dont seem to have any unix subjects in their computer science course.
DIT have a course that can stream into 'Computer Systems Architecture and Administration' which does sound good but I would to see if any other colleges do something similar.

Tom Dunne

It is extremely unusual that a CS course would not have a Unix or Linux module. And remember, you most likely will not see Unix or Linux named specifically. It will be under Computer Systems, Operating Systems or something similar.

bobbytables

Hey OP, it's great that you've identified something you like, however what I recommend you do from here should be to investigate which area of IT you would like to get in to. Sys Admin & Software Development are quite different. However depending on the size of the company you work for, there could be quite a bit of overlap between the two. My hunch is that you may prefer an admin role as opposed to a developer role, which I base purely on the fact you said...

using Linux as their operating system?

A lot of techie roles these days do require exposure to Linux, but E.g. admin(ing) Linux clusters and developing native Linux applications demand very different skills.

Developers don't learn how to work on or write software for just one platform, just like Sys Admins typically don't learn how to administer just one platform either. Knowledge of E.g. Linux is just one more thing as opposed to the only thing in most tech jobs.

Which ever road you go down, it's great that you enjoy using Linux and have experience with it. Your decision to base all your career focus on the level of exposure to a particular OS might not be the best move though.

In terms of a module in undergraduate programmes, I know in IT/Developer degrees "Computer Architecture & Operating Systems" (or some derivative) is likely to feature Linux. The level of exposure you will typically get in there will equate to what most enthusiasts will get by themselves within a few short days. So don't be surprised if you find that uneventful.

tdh

Thanks very much for the replies guys.

You're right bobby I would enjoy a more systems administration role than software developlement (although I would enjoy this too). I have my own media server at home that is built on linux and I have made a good few scripts for all sorts of things. I really like making scripts for jobs that I would have to otherwise do.

I understand what you are saying about getting a job exclusively with linux. I guess i wanted to know if there were many jobs where you are guaranteed to see alot of linux. It seems a very popular operating system especially with android etc. but I dont hear about it too often yet I hear about java and programming languages all the time.

cheers for advice:)

TDOie

In UCD there's a UNIX programming module, mainly consists of C, making implementations of some unix commands, that kinda stuff. There's also a Parallel & Cluster computing module, two operating systems modules and a distributed systems module. All of these have some UNIX related content in them.

Additionally, something worth looking at is the Internet societies each college has. DCU has Redbrick, they run all unix machines and use them for self learning, UCD & Trinity have Internet societies too (Netsoc). I know UCD's run mostly Debian / FreeBSD traditionally.

bobbytables

Yeah it looks like Sys Admin might be more preferable to you. What I suggest you do is install gcc (compiler) and the dev tools on your Linux box and teach yourself C programming. If you enjoy the experience then don't rule out Software Development.

As TDOie was saying, you will easily find modules and opportunities here and there to work with Linux, but it won't be 100% of the time. I find in IT related degrees E.g. @ Universities, students who are actively involved in computer societies tend to be the ones that do well & not the ones who just put all their stock in every word that is uttered in a lecture theatre. I know this first hand from both the perspective of a student and academic faculty staff.

So to reiterate, spend your time exploring & doing. Best way to find out if you like Software Development is to develop software. Small projects to start with. Everything you need to get started is legally available online. You don't need to create barriers such as "I need to save up to do course X" first. Pieces of paper are important for actually getting your foot in the door for interviews, but the stuff you can learn and do in your own time for free is what will determine if you can do the job and more importantly, will you enjoy doing it.

Patience, Determination, Relentless Curiosity, Logical Reasoning (which can be developed through experience), Enthusiasm are more important than knowing any one particular skill or technology in IT, incl. Linux or Java, etc.

TDOie

bobbytables wrote: »

students who are actively involved in computer societies tend to be the ones that do well & not the ones who just put all their stock in every word that is uttered in a lecture theatre. I know this first hand from both the perspective of a student and academic faculty staff.

This. I overheard a student ask another "does C compile? how do I do that?". This was a fourth year student who had done most of the modules I have listed above.

schrodinger

I ran a series of free workshops in the TOG hackerspace where I took an evening each week and showed setting up different distributions of UNIX and Linux operating systems. People could drag some hardware aside in the hackerspace and install a distribution themselves if they felt like it.

The idea was to show how the concepts of installing an operating system were the same but the underlying interface to the tasks differed, but over all the processes are the same regardless of people's preferences / religious beliefs.

If there's an interest I would run them again, perhaps it might lead onto further workshops and projects.... even at least a chance to mingle and debate how BSD kicks Linux ass :P

I covered:

• Solaris
• FreeBSD
• Slackware
• Debian
• Ubuntu
• Gentoo

Tom Dunne

TDOie wrote: »

This. I overheard a student ask another "does C compile? how do I do that?". This was a fourth year student who had done most of the modules I have listed above.

I had a second year student of mine come in and ask me "where do I get Linux from?"

pljudge321

Tom Dunne wrote: »

I had a second year student of mine come in and ask me "where do I get Linux from?"

I think this sort of stuff is very much the product of our 'Hand it all to you on a plate' style leaving cert.

Tom Dunne

pljudge321 wrote: »

I think this sort of stuff is very much the product of our 'Hand it all to you on a plate' style leaving cert.

Well I'm not actually in Ireland, but it is the same idea, though.

Saganist

schrodinger wrote: »

I ran a series of free workshops in the TOG hackerspace where I took an evening each week and showed setting up different distributions of UNIX and Linux operating systems. People could drag some hardware aside in the hackerspace and install a distribution themselves if they felt like it.

The idea was to show how the concepts of installing an operating system were the same but the underlying interface to the tasks differed, but over all the processes are the same regardless of people's preferences / religious beliefs.

If there's an interest I would run them again, perhaps it might lead onto further workshops and projects.... even at least a chance to mingle and debate how BSD kicks Linux ass :P

I covered:

• Solaris
• FreeBSD
• Slackware
• Debian
• Ubuntu
• Gentoo

Solaris 11 now has Automated install ( AI ) which is really useful for installing multiple machines ( including containers ) in a hands off manner.

It replaces jumpstart which was a bit of a pain to setup.

bobbytables

Where to get Linux?

I love being able to assist the curious/self motivated, but you can tell by the way some questions are phrased the expectations that some people have in terms of being spoon fed.

I had to mentor many final year Comp. & Elec. Eng. / IT students & one in particular used to call by my office purely expecting me to downgrade their workload as apposed to trying by themselves. My attitude has always been...not knowing is ok as long as you are willing to put in the effort to change. When you've gone to the effort it's up to you to find out how you can benefit from what you already know & this only comes from time/experience. Enjoy your quest, because it won't be your last, especially in IT.

Moonbeam

I think a lot of UNIX/Linux stuff is stuff that you do yourself in your own time.
I worked as a network engineer and there is a lot of cisco and juniper but I could do none of it with out a unix box.
I wouldn't know how to network trouble shoot with out one,don't think I could even log in to a router with out it.
It depends what you are in to yourself really.
Python and Perl would be good development languages to start to learn if you are in to the sys admin side of stuff.
Either way the O'Reilly Linux books would be a good start.
If you want a loan of some I probably have a library of them that I can dig out.

micko45

I have been an admin (Solaris/Redhat) for the last 11+ years. I completed a lot of courses over the years but the only real knowledge I got was by tinkering.
If I didn't know something, I would spend am age looking it up trying to find out all I can. Even when not in work (my wife thinks I'm mad).
College gives you the knowledge on how to study, this is probably the best thing you need for Unix/Linux. You will always come across something new, its part of the role and that's what draws me to it.

tdh

thanks very much everyone for the great input, really glad I made this thread after all. I applied for the course in UCD in the end:)

Definitely gonna have a look at python and perl in the mean time! See ye in the unix forums soon im sure;)

cheers

d'Oracle

http://openclassroom.stanford.edu/MainFolder/CoursePage.php?course=PracticalUnix

For the meantime.
You might know all of it already....I dunno.
Might help though.