rahul wrote: > to become a good linux system administrator.any help on > this topic or advice would be appreciated. Dear Rahul, There are many things about Linux/System administration and India I am sure you would like to pay attention. Most of my comments are related to India... 1. Linux is yet to be established commercially as an O/S and unless you are working with some startup with your own part in the investment and employee stock options, it makes little commercial sense. You will not get the job of a system administrator in most respectable companies as most of them have dedicated teams and departments for taking care of machine [physical maintenance contracts to O/S and network installation and management] and power supplies. As I see it around me. 2. Being a system administrator is a thankless job. It is true that for a while people will need your help a lot and will have to respct you too but your career-path moneywise may not be as promising as a software developer or software engineer. 3. It will be quite some time before you establish your own consultancy etc and be known as a geek/guru when it comes to sysadmin but a sysad is responsible for backups, restorations, crashed hard-disks and faulty wires etc.. This is not the job description. This is what you will be doing most of the time. 4. Most of the time your bosses will be after you. You will have to deal with real problems created by stupid people who will want rectification of the faults they created themselves and will not tell you what stupidity they have done. You will have mostly to troubleshoot a blackbox. The picture that I have painted is not a very positive one but I wish that someone who does not have a through Computer science background, should not usually go for system administration. It is a much better approach to be a system programmer or software developer on the mainstream and take care of a system or support an installation without having to be held responsible for it. This is a good career path which will benefit your knowledge in the long and short run. And will also save you the label of 'Stamped as Sysad - and little else'. My views may not be the best. But these are mine. And I believe this is a good career choice to make if you have responsibilities in future, like most of us are going to have. --------------------- So far as Suresh's saying goes... that : - It depends on how much you know. Most of the "linux" sysadmins I know are either self taught or learnt unix at a place where they _really_ know how to teach Unix (such as the IITs / BITS / some RECs etc) <even there, they were largely self taught I think> ---------------------- It is true. At the age when your grasping abilities are your best [acording to popular belief], experimentation, self learning and reading the F manuals goes a long way. Most of the top programmers and sysadds I know in IIT are from either Civil or Meta or Aero branches of engineering. You give yourself time. Mostly it is the right man at the right place in the right time kind of thing. Like, I have a standalone PC so there is limited work I can do when it comes to learning networking.... ------------------------------- Yes, it always helps if you are taught, it saves time and the learning takes place in a much more organised [hence limited] manner, unless your teacher is really enthusiastic about teaching you. Do not join any place for any certification which might help you get a job. There is always scarcity of good sysads. Or any other professionals who are good at their job. So you will find a place to fill if you are good. So concentrate on being good. Alright? All the best. Rohit Ps - for those who find this mail irrelevant, please delete this without comment. Flames > /dev/null ----------------------------------------------------------------------- LIH is all for free speech. But it was created for a purpose - to help people discuss issues about installing and running Linux. If your messages are counterproductive to this purpose, your privileges to submit messages can and will be revoked.
