Questions about studying Linux

[sw1995]

Hello,

So, I have a quick question and would really appreciate some advice: I have been using Ubuntu and other various Linux distributions for over a year now and can honestly say learning about Linux is one of my main hobbies. Long story short, I have an MFA in Visual Art (which apparently means I am a Master of Fine Art) however I cannot quit thinking that I would truly love a career that involved tooling around with Linux/Computers all day.

Now, seeing as I have already spent nearly a decade of my life in higher education, anybody have any ideas of how/where I might pursue such a career? I'm not talking about enrolling in a 4 year BS in Computer Science but other types of education options in the industry (WHATEVER that means).

Thanks, sorry if this is a silly/ill-informed question.

-S

[DeadSuperHero]

As much as it sounds like I'm plugging myself, learning the command line seems to be an important first step in learning about the insides of Linux. How different pieces interact.
After that, it might be a good idea to study a programming language. Python's a good one to start with.

[wootah]

Hello,

So, I have a quick question and would really appreciate some advice: I have been using Ubuntu and other various Linux distributions for over a year now and can honestly say learning about Linux is one of my main hobbies. Long story short, I have an MFA in Visual Art (which apparently means I am a Master of Fine Art) however I cannot quit thinking that I would truly love a career that involved tooling around with Linux/Computers all day.

Now, seeing as I have already spent nearly a decade of my life in higher education, anybody have any ideas of how/where I might pursue such a career? I'm not talking about enrolling in a 4 year BS in Computer Science but other types of education options in the industry (WHATEVER that means).

Thanks, sorry if this is a silly/ill-informed question.

-S
There are some certification courses that Canonical provides that are hosted throughout North America; however, they are pretty sparse. I would follow what Mr. Psychopath suggested and continue learning the command line. Learn about how stuff works. Ask yourself questions such as:


How does my computer start up?
What's GRUB?
How do file permissions work?
What's an inode and how are files stored on disk?
I wonder how I can remote control my machine?
How can I increase security?
How does USB work? Where's the code for it?
I should make a program to make my life easier. How do I start?
I have a spare computer laying around... I should install Gentoo on it and turn it into a router and/or gateway!

These kind of questions and pathways lead to a huge foundation of knowledge and can keep you busy for days and weeks. Try sporting a scientific mind! The more questions you ask, the more opportunities you have to learn! Since you mentioned that you are from the arts and that you are well educated, I believe you should have no problem with this! Perhaps you can use your creativity to bring new aspects and insights into programing projects? Maybe you can help design artwork for existing projects?

Hopefully this is helpful to you! This community is massive and I'm sure if you poke around at questions that people have asked, you can find new aspects of Linux you have never seen before! I know that after I browsed around a bit, I discovered many new things :)

Good luck!

[twright]

i find the best way is just try doing stuff and learn from the outcome (of course it helps to have a backup)

subscribe to a load of blogs and you may learn stuff from them to :)

[pape]

In addition to canonical's certification, there are LPI (Linux Professional Institute) and RHCE (Red Hat Certified Engineer), which are probably more well known.

From Amazon one can easily find practice books for these. Doing one of those and learning to program should land you a low-level linux-related job. For higher levels, I think it would good to be an active open source contributor and excellent programmer.

I think wootah's advice above is excellent. Try spending some months learning a simplistic distro like Arch or Gentoo, or even LFS.

But beware, I bet doing linux for a hobby is much more fun than being under pressure "to solve problems X and Y in 5 hours or the company loses $xxxxx".

BTW I used to be really into computers in about ages 11-17 and was programming by age 14 or 15. I however went to study Economics up to a PhD, and have been pretty happy with that. Still a computer hobbyist though!

[wootah]

In addition to canonical's certification, there are LPI (Linux Professional Institute) and RHCE (Red Hat Certified Engineer), which are probably more well known.

From Amazon one can easily find practice books for these. Doing one of those and learning to program should land you a low-level linux-related job. For higher levels, I think it would good to be an active open source contributor and excellent programmer.

I think wootah's advice above is excellent. Try spending some months learning a simplistic distro like Arch or Gentoo, or even LFS.

But beware, I bet doing linux for a hobby is much more fun than being under pressure "to solve problems X and Y in 5 hours or the company loses $xxxxx".

BTW I used to be really into computers in about ages 11-17 and was programming by age 14 or 15. I however went to study Economics up to a PhD, and have been pretty happy with that. Still a computer hobbyist though!

You sir, have patience. I found economics to be very boring :(

To each their own though :)