Hello all,

Thought I would jump in and see if I could find some up to date relevant information. I definitely do not have a tonne of experience in linux, although I am currently a sys admin, so I am slowly building my knowledge.

At my place of work we are running RHEL, CentOS and some UBUNTU, wondering if people might recommend other OS's that would be great to learn on.

Also wondering if there are up to date sites for preparing for the linux+, I don't have any sort of date in mind or particular goal, but I could see myself snagging it at one point.

http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/lpi/ ---- this particular site doesn't look too bad, but definitely does not appear to be up to date. Also willing to look into books if anyone knows of that over sites.

Thanks in advance!

Here is the actual LPI site for the exams.

https://www.lpi.org/certification/get-certified-lpi/

Any version of Linux is good to work with because they are all similar. My advice is learn the version you work with the most (whichever is most prevalent in your workplace).

HTH.... and good luck!

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Sweet, thanks! Ya that seems to be the consensus on selecting distro's. Fairly obvious, but still good to hear other opinions.

If you want a distro that's specifically designed around being administered by hand, not having gui's that CAN do everything, Slackware is one of the best. Debian is another good one that doesn't go gui everything, although it does have more gui-centric tools than Slackware.

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Ya in regards to challenging myself it seems as though slackware would fit the bill quite well in that aspect. Also from what I have been reading on here, attempting to solve problems and respond to threads is a good learning tool as well.

You are absolutely right about that.... that was the main reason I joined as well... I work mostly with Red Hat, but I am a fan of the BSDs as well. Keeps the mind sharp!!

And now, for another opinion to "chime in" ...

Don't(!) dismiss your existing experience as "a sys-admin!"

You said that: "At my place of work we are running RHEL, CentOS and some Umbuntu." Well, therefore, "let that(!) be your [first(!)] guide!"

You can already see, "from that which already surrounds you," that there obviously must be no "One Distro To Rule Them All,™" because, if there actually were, the Powers That Be at Your Place of Business™ surely would have consolidated upon "It" by now.

Therefore: "therefore, maybe, as an already-experienced Systems Administrator, you may already be much closer to your intended goal as the OS-specific hucksters would desire to lead you to than you think."

"The Holy Grail™," therefore, obviously must not be "distro-specific" at all. Rather, it must be "common to all three."

And ... it clearly must be "a very short, even logical, extension" (in depth ...) to the "breadth of knowledge" that you already have.

As a sysadmin in a production business, you already know(!) the breadth of what your employer's business needs. To this body of knowledge, you now intend to seek to add depth. Very well, then. Obviously, "the 'depth' that your employer may seek" cannot be "distro specific!" . . . .

Don't forget that you can also start going to your local LUG & get plenty of info.

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One of the few free sites offering lpic 2 instructions:

http://lpic2.unix.nl/index.html

Fred.

I'm actually trying to get my company to pay for me to take the LPIC 2, great link.

Well, it will only cost them about 150. Its the training material/courses that costs the money and it is that which will steer you to what is on the exam, the "detailed objectives" not withstanding.
Not sure how Slackware will help but then don't know much about Slackware, except that its software governance is different than apt or yum/rpm.
I suppose the lpic system does offer the "detailed objectives" approach where you can go and learn for yourself, just should be a bit more "detailed".

Fred.