[Cialug] Cialug Beginnings

[Daniel A. Ramaley]

On 2011-07-19 at 17:03:13, Pawel wrote:
>My question is: how did some of you start your careers as Linux
>professionals? My goal is to use Linux in my professional life
>from Day 1.

What i did was start playing with Linux just a little in high school, 
then ran it on a secondary box my freshman year of college (with Windows 
95 on my primary machine). By junior year Linux was running on my 
primary box, with Windows on a secondary one. A few years later i 
stopped keeping a Windows box entirely. After a couple years of using 
Linux full time on my own, it was easy to use Linux at work. I graduated 
2001 and so far have not had to deal with a non-Linux system as my 
primary desktop, and my jobs have revolved around programming or system 
administration on Linux and other Unix-like systems. I do keep an OS X 
machine and a Windows virtual machine at work for testing, but my 
primary work is all on Linux.

So, i'd say that if you want to use Linux on "Day 1", get really 
comfortable with it. Use it as your primary operating system. If you 
look for jobs in Linux programming or administration, a reasonable 
employer will not take issue with you running Linux on your desktop. 
Really, if you administer or program for Linux systems you *should* have 
Linux on the desktop. Eat your own dog food and all that...
__
Daniel A. Ramaley
Network Engineer 2

Dial Center 112, Drake University
2407 Carpenter Ave / Des Moines IA 50311 USA
Tel: +1 515 271-4540
Fax: +1 515 271-1938
E-mail: daniel.ramaley at drake.edu