Hi everyone,

I am currently an MCP (Windows 2000) and have a technical/desktop support job. I'm taking the A+ and Network+ exams next, but I am getting interested in Linux as I have heard many good things about it.

I have never used Linux before and know nothing about the certification. Is it a respected certification in the IT industry? Is it worth pursuing? And where is the best place to start? Can anybody give me information on which type of Linux I should install on a home computer to practice with and how much it costs.

One thing I have heard is that Linux is much more stable than Windows when it comes to running games. I know this isn't really a technical question, but I am interested to hear people's views on this.

Paul Hutchins
MCP.

Report this post to a moderator

If you want pursue a Linux certification, it probably would be best to wait on the Linux+ certification next year. Linux hasn't really taken off contrary to what a lot of people are saying. Read one of my earlier post about this:

http://www.examnotes.net/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000276.html

Yes Linux is more stable than Windows, but it is a hacker/geek/techie OS. You will have to do a lot configuring yourself to get things to operate properly. It's not hard to learn, but it will take some time.

As far as which Linux distribution to get, chose the one that you are comfortable with and the one that has a fair amount of documentation.

Commerical-wise Red Hat is the most popular and has TONS of books to uses. Also, Red Hat is the distribution that many organizations go to when they use Linux.

Corel Linux is the easiest, most Windows-like version out there. It is great if you are just learning Linux and making a transition from Windows.

Now if you want to get your hands dirty, try Slackware Linux. It is not recommeded for the newbie, but it is the most pure and UNIX like version of Linux out there.

There are other Linux distributions out there (Debian, Mandrake, SuSE, Caldera, TurboLinux, Storm, etc.) and different people will have different opinions about which on to use. Each one has it's advantages and disadvantages to the user. You have to chose the one you feel comfortable with.

Good Luck:-)



[This message has been edited by Bobby Digital (edited 12-01-2000).]

Report this post to a moderator

Looking at linux vs win9x for gaming platforms, it is really no contest. win9x has all the games written to it first and has all the drivers written to it first.

Is linux more stable? Any version of unix/linux, properly configured, is more stable than any version of windows. However, this takes a back seat when it comes to gaming.

hope this helps!
chris

Report this post to a moderator

First of all, the easy way to get around the problem of your games is to not get rid of windows. To install almost any version of Linux, you are going to need to partition your diak up and then you can load a boot manager to choose which OS you will want to use. This way, you needn't give up windows all at once . . . you can keep your games and get used to Linux gradually.

Is Linux certification worth much? Well, I am not sure if it is that popular just now, but according to the Halloween documents leaked from Microsoft in '98, BG and company consider it a threat, so it may be worth pursuing. To start off, I would recommend DragonLinux or Caldera e-Desktop. They are the easiest and safest to use. DragonLinux doesn't require you to partition your hard drive and Caldera has a small version of Partition Magic that will do it for you.

Report this post to a moderator