To those who are System Administrators...

[Druas]

How would you recommend getting a job in this field to someone who is young and has little experience?

Here is where I am at:
-Recent grad with a Bachelors degree in Management Information Systems from a university with a solid reputation
-I have done some basic coding over the years, but do not have the passion or desire to make a career out of straight up writing code
-I have used computers since I was a kid, and have loved virtually every minute of it. However, Windows has always been my primary OS with a somewhat recent switch to OS X
-Unfortunately, my interaction with Windows has mostly been through the GUI and I am not used to using command prompt for more than a handful of things
-I would consider myself tech savvy and have a strong interest in computers and other gadgets
-I have no problem being labeled a nerd. In high school, I spent plenty of time hosting and participating in LAN parties and still prefer PC gaming over console
-I am not socially retarded. Most of the time, I enjoy people. From what little experience I have had with an IT job, one of my favorite parts is being able to effectively match technology with the needs of an organization and the people who will be using it

As far as Linux goes:
-For various reasons, I am pretty much a complete noob when it comes to Linux
-I recently got a new laptop, which opens up my desktop that I built six years ago for messing around in Linux. Specs of the old computer are: Athlon64 X2 3800+, 2 GB DDR 400 RAM, 2 WD Raptors in RAID 0, nVidia GeForce 7800 GTX
-So far, all I have done is install Ubuntu along side a previous Windows 7 installation (which I might switch to a Windows server installation because I only have a small amount of experience with that also)
-I am thinking now that I might be better off installing Fedora just because I have heard most companies use Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Some other questions:
Where should I start?
Any good tutorials you would recommend?
Everyone was a noob at some point, how did you attain your vast Linux knowledge?
What other Linux or system administrator related forums/websites do you enjoy?

Feel free to move this post as I was not 100% sure where it fit.

Thank you for your help and ideas!

[Freston]

Welcome to the forums!

It's difficult to give advice on a question like this. But, generally speaking I think most regular posters here have the experience that the more people know about Windows, the more difficulty they have with learning Linux. It's good to prepare yourself for this experience beforehand, because you will have difficulty.

Everybody learns differently, so it's hard, no impossible even, to give some generic advice that will work for everyone. I think it's best to start with a clean slate, because Windows knowledge is at first more a hindrance than a benefit. You can however tie WIndows and Linux machines together and have them co-operate. But that's a bit further down the line...

For various reasons, I am pretty much a complete noob when it comes to Linux

I think the proper term is newbie. And it's such a relative term, because nobody knows everything

So far, all I have done is install Ubuntu

Ok, this is not intended as a troll Ubuntu has it's uses and has a purpose for it's existence. But in their effort to bring Linux to the masses they have hid some of the inner mechanisms of Linux. I think, running Ubuntu is a very convenient way of getting up and running Real Fast. But I think it's a poor choice for learning admin skills.

I am thinking now that I might be better off installing Fedora

I'm not really sure bout that either. I'd sooner recommend CentOS for your purpose.

Where should I start?

This is an excellent place to start but kidding aside it all depends on what you want to do.

I'm one of the old fashioned types that thinks there's no skills like Bash skills. I've found many if not all Windows admins I've come across IRL look down on the command line, seeing it as a place where cavemen dwell. But truth of the matter is that the Bash prompt is much much more powerful that the DOS it's compared with. If only you where to learn Bash, you would not be done anytime soon. Try it

In the Linux/Unix world there's a lot of emphasis on command line skills. This makes for a steep learning curve. But in the end it makes life a lot easier. Remember that almost everything that can be done from the GUI can be done from the command line. The opposite however is much more limited.



...well anyway, these where some things that came to mind. Having fun while learning is the most important thing though.