When installing a Windows OS, you may have all kinds of automation in place that handles the bare-bones OS build for you. If you’re currently running Server Core, or you’re used to administering Windows using PowerShell, VBScript, or just plain cmd.exe, this may not be a difficult transition. Windows admins can use either to administer a Linux machine, however, hard-core Linux admins advocate for using the command line. Popular GUIs include the KDE Project’s Plasma Desktop, which provides a “Windows-like” experience, and GNOME, which provides a more Mac- or Unix-like experience. Just like Windows Server 2016 has the “Desktop Experience” flavor with the GUI installed, or Server Core for a more lightweight server OS, GUIs are also available for Linux as an optional install. CentOS, Ubuntu, Red Hat, and Debian are all names of Linux distros – and they all have their own pros and cons. Linux distros vary here in that while some distributions have enterprise support, like Red Hat, some may not that big-name vendor support – or any vendor support at all.
While Microsoft may have different versions of their server operating system - like standard and datacenter or core and desktop experience – they are all supported by Microsoft. “Linux” may be the operating system, but there are many different distributions, or “distros”. Where Do I Start?ĭon’t start by googling “Windows guy wants to learn Linux”, for one. Hiring managers are looking for technicians with a wide range of skill sets, rather than specializing on a certain skill. Applications using cutting-edge architectures such as containers and microservices emphasize the importance of tech workers growing with the times. More and more modern-day shops are mixing technologies and choosing the right OS for the application architecture. The modern-day data center or cloud infrastructure now encompasses a range of operating systems, including many variants of Linux and Windows. As technologies evolve, though, this operating system known as Linux, a UNIX variant, continues to make headway in the server operating system space.Īre you currently looking for a job? If you’re not, when was the last time you looked at open job descriptions? Even if you aren’t actively looking, knowing what skill sets IT hiring managers are looking for will help you decide what technologies to concentrate on.
Yes, it was a learning curve, and for those who think “learning Windows” is simply learning how to click “Next”, then you’ve obviously never run Windows NT. I majored in JCL, minored in COBOL, and if in 2017 you know what either of these things are, then I salute you! I did, at some point, decide that furthering my IT career meant I needed to continue to learn, and so I learned Windows. I started out my career in IT on the mainframe – OS/390, to be exact. Or why as a Windows admin, you may want to think about crossing to the dark side and learning a different operating system. If you google “Windows guy wants to learn Linux” (and yes, I’m a girl, but I’m using “Windows guy” as a gender-neutral term here), you’ll get a myriad of forums where people use trite encouraging sayings like “It’s easy!” and “The best way to learn it is just to try it and break things!” While these things may all be true, they’re not very useful in how to get started learning Linux. Here is a proper tutorial to building your first Linux box from the perspective of a Windows person.