Was Linux the right choice of career
 

Unlike most newbie computer engineers, I chose to learn and use Linux as my main skill, rather than Windows. Everyone who I trained with thought I was a fool to pursue Linux rather than Windows. They all went off to take exams in Windows 2000 server/client. I on the other hand chose to fully learn and take an exam in Linux. Has it paid off? Certainly not for now.
It has been 7 months and I still do not feel I am ready to take the Linux + exam on top of the A+ and network + I already have. Do not get me wrong, I still firmly believe that Linux is the superior OS but when senior Linux people talk about what a failour Linux has been in their lives and that they can not pay the bills, it really makes me wonder if I made the right choice. For instance the head of LNR (Linux Router Project) complaining about how his life has been hurt by his involvment in the project, and seeming on the verge of running away and leaving his debts behinds, is hardly encouragement to the student, or recommendation for the Chairman/Director is it. Can't someone somewhere just pull the right strings?

theres simply not much money for programmer/programing companies to make in linux, plus its not very popular as of yet, learning windows (or taking a stupid exam) can make people that no nothing a good amount of money

maybe as more business want linux they might hire competent people that know how to use linux? (as opposed to incompetent windows "experts")

I do hope that, that is the case. I have my sights set on cisco for the next couple of years, but I would like to get a million £ in my 20s. Why can't someone just send a psycic in the form of a lap dancer to beat the truth into company directors and make them see that Linux will make them more money/property/sloth in the long run than windows?
If I knew IT would be this hard going I would have joined the Foreign Legion.

because IT directors and CEO's would rather give their companies hard earned profits to Bill Gates, BUT--------
Propriatary Software Licenses will soon be a thing of the past, just give it time.
Bill G and M$ will hang themselves.......it will be fun to watch!!

/me pulls up a nice comfy lawn chair

Moved: This thread is more suitable in General and has been moved accordingly to help your thread/question get the exposure it deserves.

HadesThunder,

I think your post is addressing several different issues and it's worth separating them out.

First, whether Linux is superior. I'm sure you'll agree that how good an OS is does not have much relation with how easy it is to get a job with that OS.

Second, making money from Open Source. If you are programming because you enjoy it and you want to scratch an itch, it should not come as a great surprise that you don't get rich doing it. Some people will, but a lot more won't - the OSS model was never a money-making scheme.

If we look at the people who are making a living from Linux, I'm sure they are doing much the same things as people making a living from Windows : working for companies which pay them to do Linux administration or programming. There are an increasing number of these around, but because Linux tends to be new in the company, there is less likely to be a group of Linux experts sitting there already.

This is important. If you go into a company to manage Mainframes, Windows or Unix, there will be a well established team. That means that the company will be looking to take on lower-skilled lower-paid trainees who can work their way up. Linux might be this in some cases, but many companies will have a few Linux servers and so will be looking for someone with reasonable expertise and experience to run them.

Looking on www. jobserve.com a search for UK based jobs, searching on "Linux and London" returns 387 jobs (compared to 1453 for "Windows and London") so there are jobs out there - it's a question of whether you are the person for those jobs.

Finally, there's your problem of getting your skills up to the level where you can get these jobs. I have no idea what problems you are having; but if after seven months of study you still feel unable to pass Linux+, my guess is that there is something you're missing in your training. Assuming you've got a home setup with two or three networked Linux boxes and you're putting in the hours to go through everything, you really shouldn't be having a huge problem.

If you'd like to post more information on how you are preparing for your Linux+ exam (either in this thread or the certification forum), I'm sure you can get some useful advice.

I'd like to know how he prepared for the A+ exam. A few threads down he's having a hard time figuring out if his P3 is a socket or slot CPU. Open up any A+ study guide and it'll have that info. Sorry, but I'm not buying it anymore.

"Can't someone somewhere just pull the right strings?"

No, but apparently some people know how to push the wrong buttons.

Reality check here. Your Windows colleagues won't be getting a million in their twenties. There may be a small number of areas where IT Contractors can earn over £100,000 p.a. but those will be specialist areas in which you'll need a few years solid commercial experience.

If you want to earn a million, you should be setting up a company, buying and selling; not studying for Linux exams.

Myself, I failed to earn a million in my 20s by some margin, even before tax, but I would almost certainly have been more miserable if I had, because of the sacrifices I would have had to make, not to mention doing work I didn't enjoy.

The user base is changing for Linux, I think that is why they are changing the Linux+ exam(yeah!) IBM is involved with Linux so I think if you just hang in, Linux is gonna pay off.

Crito. I did open up my A+ study guide and all it said relating to the subject of motherboard and cpu support. It did not mention that Pentium 3 is a 370 pin cpu and I had only realised and I soon learned that the number after the slot or socket tends to be the number of pins that a motherboard accepts.
I prepared for the A+ by going through it and reading cram sessions and going through test king. Similar for the Network +. But my Linux study guide is three times the size of the other two and being from a Windows background, Linux is still a bit alien to me. But I will have Linux + qualification the August.
Go get yourself A+ Core Hardware Fundamentals: Learning Centre Student Guide Version 3.07 and you will not find how many pins a Pentium 3 has or what motherboards it is compatible.
What exacly are you not buying?

quotes:
Unlike most newbie computer engineers, I chose to learn and use Linux as my main skill, rather than Windows.

and being from a Windows background, Linux is still a bit alien to me.
:scratch:


HadesThunder, are you actually learning anything while doing your study guides? If you are just memorizing enough to pass the exams, then good luck in making the big bucks(pounds)

The A+ OS test is all about Windows, there's no Linux in it. The objectives for the A+ Core Hardware test include processor types and chipsets. The Exam Cram 2 book, which is almost 1000 pages long, about double the size of any Linux+ study guide, devotes an entire chapter to this one topic and even includes a table with the number of pins on each CPU. Even more perplexing is why you couldn't find this information on your own with google. Using Linux generally requires more research than using Windows does. I'll admit, however, that I'm not familiar with braindump sites like testking. I just find it hard to believe you passed A+ without knowing anything about processors and without focusing your studies on Windows, both would seem to be requisite.

In any case, I could be wrong and if so you have my appologies in advance. This thread has the smell of a Windows troll however, and I make it a policy not to feed trolls. So please don't expect me to reply again.

Re: Was Linux the right choice of career
 

:mad: When will people stop calling themselves engineers when they dont have a degree? Kids who run about with certs calling themselves engineers give real engineers a bad name...

Second calling yourself an engineer when you are not one is a crime in certain countries/states.

http://www.tbpe.state.tx.us/