[GLLUG] Where can I get the best Linux training?

[Matt Graham]

On Tuesday 22 April 2003 06:58, after a long battle with technology, 
Matt Shirilla wrote:
> Can anyone recommend a good Linux course?

As in "formal training you can put on a resumé", or as in "actually 
learn stuff"?  These two things are often orthogonal.

Maybe you should be more specific about what you want out of this Linux 
course.  Something like:  "I want to know some basic command-line 
tools," or "I want to be able to administer and configure various 
common network services," or "I want to be able to write sendmail.cf 
from scratch using /bin/ed."

> I took a non-Linux class
> at New Horizons once, it was ok but it moved pretty slow.  Maybe a
> local college has a good CS course that covers Linux or Unix well.

I don't know about local community college opportunities for formal 
training--most of what I really learned I learned by work experience 
and the seat of my pants.  Linux/*BSD offer great opportunities for 
that kind of learning.  If you haven't already, install a distro on 
whatever hardware you happen to have lying around, and *use* that 
distro for all your general computing needs.  That by itself will teach 
you a lot.  Problems?  First check your distro's Fine Manual, either 
the dead trees that came with the boxed set, or the stuff in 
/usr/share/doc/ .  Can't find the answer there?  Google is your friend, 
especially http://groups.google.com/advanced_group_search , search 
comp.os.linux.* for appropriate keywords and you'll find a solution or 
at least a solid lead 75% of the time.  Still no luck?  Post to the 
appropriate newsgroup, or to an appropriate mailing list, making sure 
to follow the suggestions given in 
http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html .  If you can do all 
that, you'll be ahead of the curve.

If you're looking for a helldesk/sysadmin/ network ops job, you probably 
want certifications combined with work experience, not necessarily 
college courses.  Think about the RHCE if you're looking for a 
Linux-specific certification--since the RHCE has a hands-on component, 
clueful employers like the RHCE better than many other certs.  HTH,

-- 
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   Management: "Great, we can sell that.  We won't mention the problem 
   of pig byproducts falling from the sky, and fix it in an upgrade."
There is no Darkness in Eternity/But only Light too dim for us to see