8 ms·

Show HN: Linux sysadmin course, eight years on

• shrthnd 6y ago
  this is great! thanks for all your hard work and for sharing, snori74!
• calimac 6y ago
  thank you!
• accidentalrebel 6y ago
  Seems very interesting. I checked out the site and I want to find out why lessons need to be dished out weekly via Reddit. I'm curious. What is the rationale/history behind this? And why Reddit? When I learn a new subject I prefer having everything available so I could go through it at my own pace. I understand people learn differently so I wonder if this kind of approach works well for other people who learn differently from me. Wish this project the best.
  • shrthnd 6y ago
    If you visit the main domain there's a link to view the material: https://github.com/snori74/linuxupskillchallenge https://github.com/snori74/linuxupskillchallenge
  • edoceo 6y ago
    I used to teach. Some students can be left alone and learn at good pace, on their own. Others need the regular cadence and guidance. EG: we meet every Monday, next we talks about X. There are many different learning styles. Your style (mine too) (perhaps autodidact) does terrible in rigid structure, others need it - even for subjects they are enthusiastic about.
  • snori74 6y ago
    Although I say repeatedly that each 'lesson' has about two hours work in it I worry that were lessons available, students will just skim though the whole lot "in one go". I also believe that 'forcing' students to ssh in daily for a month gets a bit of muscle-memory working, and proves that they have the required stickability. (The initial paid version reported such things back to their employer!) In fact, all lessons are available via Github, but I try to avoid pointing this out :-) I really wanted a good discussion forum, and I'm not a great fan of much of the classic forum software. While Reddit gets a good bit of stick for some of it's subreddits, if you pick those you visit well the content can be very good - and the upvoting etc works pretty well imho. [Edit: added comment on stickability]
    • BossingAround 6y ago
      > I worry that were lessons available, students will just skim though the whole lot "in one go". I think this is a common pitfall of a number of beginner courses. Personally, I view it as kind of an arrogance of "I know better what you need than you do". As a user, I think you have no say in how I consume any content. > The initial paid version reported such things back to their employer! The employer has no right to know anything about me other than what I do during my 8h of paid time. I can share whatever I want of course, but a feature like this seems like it supports an unhealthy work relationship.
      • snori74 6y ago
        Well in a sense, I do "know better". There is a real benefit to setting up a VPS "fully exposed to the Internet (another thing that some struggle with); A real benefit to taking a day to investigate each day's lesson; A real benefit to getting into the habit of ssh-ing daily. But hey, having run this for a long while, I'm well aware people are coming from all sorts of backgrounds, having all sorts of crazy things going on in their lives etc - so however they do it is fine by me. So, those that simply read it through - OK. Those that run it in a VM on their laptop - OK. Peace,
        • BossingAround 6y ago
  • justusthane 6y ago
    He has a blog post[0] where he mentions some of the reasoning for doing it this way. Seems like in part it’s to be able to foster discussion around each lesson. [0]: http://snori74.blogspot.com/2020/04/linux-upskill-challenge.html?m=1 http://snori74.blogspot.com/2020/04/linux-upskill-challenge....
• Icedcool 6y ago
  That’s awesome dude!
• atum47 6y ago
  well, that's awesome. sorry to hear about your condition though.
  • snori74 6y ago
    Well it is what it is. One of the "odd" things is not really knowing how long you've got. Doctors hate to put a date on it, and clearly everyone's trying to push things out - but it makes planning difficult :-) For this course I now have a small team of helpers authorised to look after the subreddit, the GitHub and the domain name. So hopefully it'll keep going strong after I bow out. I've also changed the licensing to CC by SA 4.0, so if you think this is a good base you're welcome to develop it as you see fit, including commercially.
    • atum47 6y ago
      I know Linux enough to get by. a little bit more then that, perhaps. but I'll make sure to take a look at the course. if see something I can help with, I'll do it. pretty sure I will learn from it, for sure besides that, keep a positive attitude. this thing here we call life is just a journey. eventually it will end for all of us. just make sure to enjoy your journey as much as you can doing the things you enjoy doing. sure it would be nice if we could all get paid to do the things we like, but that's not always the case. never fear though, making money is not and will never be a good measure for success. glad to learn that your side project was to perpetuate knowledge.
      • snori74 6y ago
        Thanks for your kind words.
    • replwoacause 6y ago
      You have an impressive attitude that conveys strength even in the face of the uncertainty you are dealing with. Thanks for creating and sharing this, it looks awesome!
• codetrotter 6y ago
  Clickable subreddit link using the old reddit interface that lets you see the content on mobile even if you aren’t logged into reddit: https://old.reddit.com/r/linuxupskillchallenge https://old.reddit.com/r/linuxupskillchallenge The other two links in clickable form as well: http://www.linuxupskillchallenge.org/ http://www.linuxupskillchallenge.org/ http://snori74.blogspot.com/2020/04/health-status.html http://snori74.blogspot.com/2020/04/health-status.html
  • snori74 6y ago
    Thanks, that old interface really was much nicer...
  • asddubs 6y ago
    i was honestly kind of glad when they introduced the new interface once i figured out that i didn't have to request the desktop site every time I open a new reddit tab anymore by just going straight to old.reddit.com
• greenie_beans 6y ago
  I’ve lurked your subreddit for a while...might finally do it. Thank you!
• ivvve 6y ago
  Very generous of you, thank you! You've helped a lot of people out with this I'm sure. Wishing you the best.
• arminiusreturns 6y ago
  Great work I've seen while doing my regular github foss browsing (by most recently updated), and thank you for putting CC4 on it. I also want to say I like the general format at least on github (not a reddit fan these days). Constructive criticism: to me, this is a bit too barebones. There are quite a few extremely similar ones out there with essentially the same content but not as nice a format. You might consider doing the next tier course for those who aren't completely green but are trying to get past that initial hurdle which what many of them are trying to do. As for what exactly, I would say an extensive focus on the entire systemd ecosystem would be a great starting point for example. Go ahead and go into nf/iptables, etc. One other thing, I think a proper table of contents would be a good simple addition.
  • snori74 6y ago
    Yes, I've commented in a number of places that this is essentially Part I of a two part intro to the absolute minimum I'd like a newbie sysadmin to know. It's likely that I'll put a tentative ToC for Part II into somewhere like /r/linux of /r/sysadmin for comment and discussion.
• alekq 6y ago
  Thank you very much for this! I am sorry that I did not know about it sooner. Anyway the question for HN - is it too "late" for a person to consider career change in 33? To clarify, I am not in IT business, my formal education (and job) is in business administration, however with recent and important changes in my private and work life, I am considering to bite the bullet. Initially, I considered back-end development, but actually Linux sysadmin might be more appropriate for me.
  • onenite 6y ago
    Not too late. Professional experience in anything technical/analytical/complex would keep your mind adaptive enough to deal with computer systems and work effectively with others. On that note, programmers used to consist of mathematicians, engineers, and scientists, until there was a growing shortage of programmers, at which point project managers, accountants, and other comparable professionals trained to become programmers. [1] 1. The Future of Programming - Uncle Bob Martin https://youtu.be/BHnMItX2hEQ https://youtu.be/BHnMItX2hEQ
  • wilsonrocks 6y ago
    I switched from being a math teacher and union official to web developer at 35 and have loved it!
  • lxe 6y ago
    Same answer as "is it too "late" for a person to consider career change in 22?" Make sure it's a career in something you actually like and can foresee to some degree of confidence that you can continue being interested in, and honing your skill in, for a while.
  • BBergdahl 6y ago
    I switched to IT at 40. Doable. But Swede so a lot of options like paid paternity leave, tuition free university and so on made it easier.
  • pletnes 6y ago
    I worked in non-it but programming-is-useful roles until age 35. Now I’m a sw developer. I don’t particularly recommend for or against as it’s a personal choice after all. But feasible, yes absolutely.
• rani08 6y ago
  Thank for building and making it available for everyone for free. Sorry about your health. I hope you feel better.
• silicon_wally 6y ago
  The links to linuxacademy.com are broken, since it was rebranded to acloudguru.com
  • snori74 6y ago
    Thanks, fixed in Github now, all ready for Monday!
• user_agent 6y ago
  I'm speechless, @OP. It ceases to amaze me that people who aren't in a position to generate value for others often generate more of thereof than a regular, healthy individual. I'd like this world to be inhabited with more people like you. I know myself how it's like to live with a deliberating illness, so let me just say that I'll be praying for your recovery (and if that's not possible at least less pain and a better "reinstatiation" prospects in the future if a reincarnation is a thing). It seems that I'm going to make it regarding my health challenges, so I promise to make a good use of the Linux skills that your course is going to help me to systematize. Thank you. I'd not get into tech without what have happened to me. Being forced to be on a "lock-down" for 2,5 years I got myself step by step into an amazing world of technology which with my skills getting more polished made me feel I might be actually able to transcendent my body's limitation. I can only hope that something similar could still happen to you regardless of the discipline involved (I know that there's probably nothing worse than not being able fully commit to one's life). Take care, buddy.
  • snori74 6y ago
    Ha, ha, my original goal was to make a tidy pile of $$, but also a desire to teach and share. The feedback I get is certainly bouying me up as I go forward toward that big unknown. Thanks for your thoughts.
• qiaoliang89 6y ago
  Take care! My dad is going through the same shit.
• yardie 6y ago
  This is great. And I wish this hadn’t happened to you. I just started a new position overseeing our Linux based Oracle databases and this will be a great asset. I’ll do my best to contribute where I can.
• whoknew1122 6y ago
  Good stuff. Thanks for all the effort you've put into it. One suggestion: Make it more obvious that the courses are on GitHub. I make a point to avoid reddit as much as possible, which means I don't know how to interact with reddit's interface. When I tried to view the course via reddit, I had a lot of trouble locating the actual lessons. They were out of order, and I had to shift through other users' threats ('I missed day X!' 'Here's my journal on my progress...'). Honestly, had I not randomly clicked on the GitHub repo, I would've moved onto something else. I'm glad I didn't, but yeah... pushing people onto reddit limits your audience.
  • snori74 6y ago
    Thanks, and I appreciate your comment. Things do get a little messy, but overall I've been happy with Reddit as a platform - once I figured out to pin a big FAQ ("How This Works") posting. Noone seems to read the sidebar :-(
    • washadjeffmad 6y ago
      The sidebar might not be loading for everyone. Mine doesn't unless I browse old.reddit.com on a computer, for some reason. Reddit also cripples their mobile experience on web, so unless your audience is existing redditors on computers or with the app, they're likely getting a poorer or more inconsistent experience than you see. Thanks for the great work, I hope to revisit it without the hurdles someday.
    • toyg 6y ago
      Mobile clients don’t show the sidebar, and new reddit de-emphasises it.
• manjana 6y ago
  Great work! Was hoping though that you could view the course from the landing page - have you considered moving the course to a simple static website where it could be browsed like www.domain.com/day1/ or something similar?
  • snori74 6y ago
    https://github.com/snori74/linuxupskillchallenge https://github.com/snori74/linuxupskillchallenge ?
• Anon4Now 6y ago
  Hi Steve. I took your original course 8 years ago. I wasn't aiming for a sys admin career - just wanted to be comfortable maintaining a server for my site. It worked well for that. I emailed you a few times, and you seemed like a genuinely nice guy. I just wanted to chime in and say thanks and wish you the best of luck for both your health and the legacy of this project.
  • snori74 6y ago
    Thanks, I did dig through my emails and got in touch with a few of The Originals. You guys were willing to buy a "pig in a poke" - I gave out no outline or Table of Content (still don't!), and you paid Real Money to get content into you email each day for a month. These youngsters are getting it all for free! Thanks again. - Steve
• istjohn 6y ago
  Thanks for putting this out there. As an amateur developer who has picked up just enough linux skills to get by over the years, this looks like a great way to fill in some of the gaps in my knowledge without getting too deep in the weeds.
  • snori74 6y ago
    Yup. No way of knowing exactly, but I'd guess that quite a lot of the "students" are in the same boat...
• anoviceuser 6y ago
  Thanks Steve for sharing this. I am sorry to hear about your condition. I am sure as you survived Big C, you will survive the small C as well. Take care and thanks.
• luzer7 6y ago
  Thanks for this.
• lazyant 6y ago
  Thank you for your work. Can I suggest to add a ToC? (I know this is framed as a daily challenge but it will help to see contents at a glance, even naming the chapters).
• pbhjpbhj 6y ago
  I'm a regular user but having been around for a while (and done some web dev) this course doesn't seem to go further (except in a few extensions) than my current knowledge/experience. I've written bash scripts, configured Apache/Nginx, setup a mail server with spam filtering, used git to a basic level, all that kinda stuff ... what's the next step for a taste of what being a sysadmin is like?
  • jon-wood 6y ago
    The next step is setting it up to randomly wake you up in the middle of the night with obscure messages.
    • pbhjpbhj 6y ago
      What sort of obscure messages though? Are there gru? ;o)
• westurner 6y ago
  There are a number of resources that may be useful for your curriculum for this project listed in "Is there a program like codeacademy but for learning sysadmin?" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19469266 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19469266 : > [ http://www.opsschool.org/ http://www.opsschool.org/ , https://github.com/kahun/awesome-sysadmin/blob/master/README.md#configuration-management https://github.com/kahun/awesome-sysadmin/blob/master/README... , https://github.com/stack72/ops-books https://github.com/stack72/ops-books , https://landing.google.com/sre/books/ https://landing.google.com/sre/books/ , https://response.pagerduty.com/ https://response.pagerduty.com/ (Incident Response training)] To that I'd add that K3D (based on K3S, which is now a CNCF project) runs Kubernetes (k8s) in Docker containers. https://github.com/rancher/k3d https://github.com/rancher/k3d For zero-downtime (HA: High availability) deployments, "Zero-Downtime Deployments To a Docker Swarm Cluster" describes Rolling Updates and Blue-Green Deployments; with illustrations: https://github.com/vfarcic/vfarcic.github.io/blob/master/docker-swarm/docker-swarm-updates.md#rolling-updates https://github.com/vfarcic/vfarcic.github.io/blob/master/doc... For git-push style deployment with more of a least privileges approach (which also has more moving parts) you could take a look at: https://github.com/dokku/dokku-scheduler-kubernetes#functionality https://github.com/dokku/dokku-scheduler-kubernetes#function... And also reference ansible molecule and testinfra for writing sysadmin tests and the molecule vagrant driver for testing docker configurations. https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2018/testing-your-ansible-roles-molecule https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2018/testing-your-ansible-... https://molecule.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ https://molecule.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ https://testinfra.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ https://testinfra.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ : > With Testinfra you can write unit tests in Python to test actual state of your servers configured by management tools like Salt, Ansible, Puppet, Chef and so on. > Testinfra aims to be a Serverspec equivalent in python and is written as a plugin to the powerful Pytest test engine. I wasn't able to find a syllabus or a list of all of the daily posts? Are you focusing on DevOps and/or DevSecOps skills? EDIT: The lessons are Markdown files in a Git repo: https://github.com/snori74/linuxupskillchallenge https://github.com/snori74/linuxupskillchallenge Links to each lesson, the title and/or subjects of the lesson, and the associated reddit posts might be useful in a Table of Contents in the README.md.
  • snori74 6y ago
• sam_lynx 6y ago
  Definitely going to check this out. Thank you!
• jasoneckert 6y ago
  As the author of 14 college Linux administration textbooks since 2001, and someone who has taught IT in the college space for 22 years, I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed going through this resource! I think it will benefit many who have basic Linux knowledge but need to refine and further apply it, as well as students who are currently taking a course on Linux, or a course that requires Linux knowledge (development, Cybersecurity, devops, etc.).
  • snori74 6y ago
    Wow, thanks Jason!
• animex 6y ago
  Any reason why the course recommends AWS/DO vs. running something locally with Docker?
  • snori74 6y ago
    The "How This Works" post covers this
• liveoneggs 6y ago
  tell those doctors to learn all of the options for tar or gtfo
• sbmthakur 6y ago
  What is Big C in this context?
  • phaemon 6y ago
    Cancer
• chefkoch 6y ago
  Hello, just wanted to you to thank for this fellow myeloma warrior. Happy your asct worked out and with loads of new treatments available hopefully we'll grow old with this :)
• exabrial 6y ago
  Thank you, incredible.
• auBavan 6y ago
  I don't normally comprehend most of what is posted on HN. They are too advanced for me. Probably this one too. But, will try this for you, Sir. This post is not going to let me sleep tonight.
• pakwa 6y ago
  Is Linux admin suitable for women with disabilities? I have a friend who would like this, but I hesitate to recommend it if she would be discriminated against as a job candidate.
  • snori74 6y ago
    Yes! This is techy and certainly not everyone "cup of tea" - most people would run a mile. But everyone is learning to remotely control a powerful server on the Internet ...which I think is cool and empowering. We're covering the basic Linux skills to do that, and have a vague "junior sysadmin role in big company" in mind.... But nothing stops you using these same skills to create your own website, security scanning service, or get into robotics. While discrimination unfortunately exists in some places, just avoid those and go forward. As for disablement, you just do what you can at the speed you can. (You're reading this fine, and have no idea what a hassle it was for me to write!)
• Jimmc414 6y ago
  I wanted to point out that Linode has quality Linux hosting for as low as $5 per month. We've used them reliably for years.
• snori74 6y ago
  Thanks for those that got the word out. Looks like we have a "class" of about 1,300 for this month, and its humming along nicely. (There are 5,630 sub'd, but that includes all those from previous classes who've not unsub'd - its an imprecise art!)