On Thu, Apr 10, 2014 at 7:40 PM, Morgan Blackthorne <[email protected]>wrote:
> Question from my partner: > > Hi! My partner and I were going to go to Linuxfest Northwest, where there > was a presentation on "Your First Year As A Sysadmin" on the schedule, and > I planned to ask a question; however, due to finances, we're not going to > be able to make it. My partner (obviously a sysadmin, since they are here) > mentioned this mailing list and agreed to post my question on my behalf. > So, my question: Is there currently a way to get into systems > administration without having to graduate college? My partner's talked > quite a bit about their work and I find it fascinating, and I would love to > look into it as a career path; however, I don't have the money to go back > to school. Are there any certifications that would be useful, or perhaps > other routes I have not considered? Thanks very much, I appreciate any and > all replies. Much love, Nonny. > > (hi nonny!) There is still not a lot in a college curriculum that is directly related to system administration, although access to resources may matter (or may not) and a lot of the stuff you get from a college education is generally applicable. That said, between the wide range of what's covered by system administration and the general lack of college-level education in the area, most of your educational options aren't college related at all and there's quite a lot of room to start from a personal Linux installation and work upward from there through entry level jobs that will get you mentoring to move on to higher levels. Sadly, Active Directory license costs rather limit the same path for Windows admin; on the other hand, introductory courses for Windows admin --- not always so identified --- can sometimes be found even at the vocational college level, providing both lower cost and often more flexible times. Other resources tend to be expensive and targeting companies. Sysadmin in general is still in the early phase where mentoring by coworkers is the main professional educational path. General education is helpful but not specifically necessary. (I question Tom Limoncelli's claim about 1991 still being expensive, as that was around when Linux first sprang onto the scene and even before Linux there were some PC-based resources such as Minix which could be had for the cost of a college textbook. Before 1990 was certainly a problem; my entry was a decade earlier and would not have happened had a local not gotten the idea of buying a TRS-80 Model 16 and then putting a couple modems on it for people to play around with it when he wasn't using it.) -- brandon s allbery kf8nh sine nomine associates [email protected] [email protected] unix, openafs, kerberos, infrastructure, xmonad http://sinenomine.net
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