[Cialug] a question

[Morris Dovey]

On 8/23/2010 9:25 PM, chris wrote:
> I would like to be a linux/unix system admin. Some have said that is
> crazy but its where my passion seems to be taking me. And of course
> having the skills and pay that goes along with the title, in the 40k or
> higher ranges.

I'm a programmer and not (ostensibly) a sysadmin, but my experience is 
that the pay is a lot more closely linked to the degree to which the 
system(s) is/are judged "mission critical" and to an individual SA's 
ability to "walk on water" than to the job title.

> Learning on my own and stumbling makes the trip very hard and slow
> going. I learn better by doing and learn better with a hands on guide to
> assist. Also need to be in the wild, there is only so much you can do
> without being in a real environment.

OTOH, you can go a long way without being "in the wild". When things go 
to hell in a live environment, absolutely no one wants to hear: "I need 
a day or two to research a solution."

> I would need to find an NPO that was willing to take an inexperienced
> person on board.

Try local organizations, and offer to assist whoever they're already 
working with. I'm pretty sure there are folks here who're already 
helping local organizations and who might be willing to help you help 
them help the organization. :)

Matthew's book offer is golden. Some of the O'Reilly books are really 
good (I'm not familiar with Apress). In my *nix work I've found the 
books in the Addison-Wesley Professional Computing Series to be 
universally excellent for programmers and administrators alike. I 
suggest reading library copies first, then buying when having your own 
copy of a particular book becomes appropriate.

Systems exist in a context of managers, users, developers, and vendors, 
and the best of the SAs I've known have had the ability to recognize and 
deal with all of these groups perspectives and priorities, and 
communicate with each effectively. I honestly don't know if that was a 
learned skill or a natural talent - but, either way, it's an ability 
worthy of developing.