UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

OK, I am brand new to unix. My exposure is limited to running a Counter-Strike server on Redhat 7.1. I am very exerienced in NT 4 and Win2K and am now going to use all my new-found time (read: just got pink-slipped) to learn unix.

I have FreeBSD 4.3, Redhat 6.2, Solaris 8, and TurboLinux 6 workstation.

I am in need of some suggestions on what platform to use to learn that will translate the best across the board. I ask because I have heard that there can be some pretty significant differences. I am leaning toward Solaris simply because it has such a large doco library.

Any insight from the more experienced users?

Thanks for your patience.

BTW, my thanks to Neo for running a board that is not intimidating to a neophyte like myself it certainly makes things easier.

I guess it really depends on your target employer. Linux is used for a lot of web/mail/ftp servers, but for some reason many businesses are afraid to latch on. AIX and IRIX are used a lot in the CAD design world, as is Solaris to a lesser degree. Solaris is the most used in my industry (telecom), though we also have a few HP machines. But I don't think it matters too much what you learn on, so long as you learn the logic and command line syntax. Don't fall into the Linuxconf trap. Don't get me wrong, GUI's are useful, but an admin must always know how to fix whatever is wrong command line as well. And yes, I have also learned a lot from Neo, PxT and this board and am very appreciaive.

Hi,

Well, I started with linux, then moved to OpenBSD, NetBSD, etc..
Linux is easier to start with, but it's a lil bit diff. from BSD. It depends on you purposes.

Take care.

I was kind of concerned about Linux myself because of what I have heard about its difference in syntax.

Specifically, I am looking to get the best education on the commercial distributions (i.e. HP-UX. SunOS, AIX, etc.). I want to get into this professionally so I will probably stay away from Linux until I am satisfied with my skill level and am willing to devote some time to it.

Being as how I live outside of Detroit it is good to know that AIX and the other one you mentioned were used alot in CAD because as you might imagine there are a lot of automotive design companies around.

For now I will go with Solaris 8... if I can get it to work with a GeForce 2 video card. heheh

This is a problem with Solaris for intel, hehehe, compatability with hardware,

As discussed many times before, there is no OS that is best and none that are more standard than others. A good answer really depends on a good question; i.e. the better the question is the better the answer will be.

The question itoo ask s 'not is what is more standard' ; but 'what do you plan to do with your computing infrastructure'; who do you plan to do it for?; what is your budget? your education? your prior experience in IT? There are many factors in selecting a platform and there is no 'one-size-fits-all'..... as we find out in life, technologies that try to be all things for all people often end up as nothing for no one

BTW: I started on HP-UX in the 1980s, and have worked on SUN, IBM, SGI, ATT, and most all commerical UNIXes; plus Linux since 1993. I like them all, but tend to use Linux for servers and MS laptops loaded with commercial client software for clients.

This forum, for example, runs on Linux services with Apache, PHP and MySQL, however; I remotely admin from a Win98 laptop. They are both wonderful for what they were designed to do

In this forum, threads like 'this is better than that and other IT religious discussions' are promptely deleted, according to the rules.