Hi all, very much a newbie, seen this course (Open University course titled "T155-Linux: An Introduction") advertised at the Open University in the UK, and am very interested to see what others think of it ...

Helpful comments desired

It might help if you were planning to get a job, say, as linux administrator. Can't say for sure, though.

£185?

No thanks.

Just read (most of) the LQ posts for the next month. Try to understand them ( you don't have to answer them ) If you don't understand them, then don't post. Just use your internet search engine to try to understand them. Experiment with your linux PC in the privacy of your own home. Then maybe you'll begin to understand and can start to contribute.

You'll learn a lot. For nothing.

I never paid £185. But I did learn a lot from here on LQ (I have been here a while, and my first posts, on reflection ( feel free to look them up) were pathetic, but the people here helped me learn and pointed me in the right directions. Now I'm happy with linux. No Microsoft at all. And I'm very happy.

So, start reading.

Good luck and welcome to LQ!

I've been working in 1st / 2nd line support for a few years now and have been looking to diversify my knowledge into other areas, specifically Linux. As we enter the cloud, demand for open source apps and o.s's will increase ten fold and I want to ensure I've got the necessary skills to thrive in the ever changing IT environment.

I studied at the OU a year or so ago and was impressed with the learning methods. I'm not one for sitting down in a classroom, and I'm not one for studying from my own book. I just cant retain the information! OU allowed me to study at my own pace (and in my own time - I work full time so cant study all day every day.) I also like the fact that "On successful completion of this course you will be in a position to take the CompTIA Linux+ certification, an internationally recognised work-based qualification." I've got comptia's A+ and Network+ and they've worked wonders for me when I tried to get my 1st job.

Also, there's not much out there for Linux training (not that I've found anyways!)

I doubt that trainee sys admins are their primary focus:

It is nice that they are giving Linux some attention, but I think you would have to at least to take the follow-on course (if/when one exists) to really get anywhere; there is a bit of admin content, but it looks as if it is more aimed at home users, who may have to know a little bit of admin/security themselves, purely because there is no one else.


Although

I find that rather depressing; you can't do the course without Flash and Shockwave?

I don't know anything about Linux related jobs or qualifications, with me it's a hobby (or an obsession ).

these comments are very helpful and after doing some personal checking i can see that the open university in the UK is a "respected" educator, now off to see if i can register

I don't know anything about Linux related jobs or qualifications, with me it's a hobby (or an obsession ) lol isn't that the Truth (Obsession) I can't keep away from a Linux distro.

So you want to learn about Linux , great grab a distro that teaches you and frustrates the hell out of you. Slackware, Archlinux , Debian, Gentoo, any sourced based distro. Then read LQ , http://Linux.com tutorials. The linux document project. http://tldp.org/ grab a book about Linux. I really recommend starting off with slackware and downloading the slackware book it is fantastic , will show you everything about the distro and how to navigate. This is real world practice, all your going to find with a over priced linux program online is well over priced (:

Regards.