Is a Unix class worthwhile?

[Zelmo]

It's almost time to register for my last semester of college, and one of the controlled electives for my MIS degree happens to be the CompSci department's Unix class. I'm tempted to take it, but wonder whether I'd be wasting my time since I've been using Linux almost exclusively for a few years now. Maybe I'd be better off taking a cybersecurity class?

I'd like to get opinions from people who've taken an introductory Unix class in college, and also use Linux regularly. Does a class teach you much that you wouldn't learn on your own?

[techieMoe]

I enjoyed the UNIX class I took as part of my CS major. It might have had more to do with the professor, however. He was an old UNIX-guy that was around since the days of ENIAC and he would often break class to go into war stories of how things "used to be". He didn't do it to say those days were better, though. He used them as examples of how much better PCs are today.

I guess I haven't been much help there. It certainly couldn't hurt to take a UNIX class. I learned a lot of fascinating history of computing.

[celticgeek]

I have both taken and taught introductory classes in UNIX-GNU/Linux, and I have enjoyed both. The main advantage of taking a UNIX class, even after several years of using LInux, is that there are still a million things about it to learn, especially if you plan on doing any sort of administratoion work. For example, scripting, monitoring, security, and so forth.