Why MCSE's Won't Learn Linux
Submitted by tony on Thu, 05/08/2008 - 17:12.
ZD is blogging about why many MCSE's can't or won't learn Linux.
The judgement?
"Basically, to learn Unix you learn to understand and apply a small set of key ideas and achieve expertise by expanding both the set of ideas and your ability to apply them - but you learn Windows by working with the functionality available in a specific release."
He goes on to say:
"Put a Solaris guy who’s never used Linux in front of SuSe 10 with a list of complex tasks and [...] he won’t be either intimidated or deterred; and the job will get done because he knows how the tools he needs should work
"In contrast, if you take a guy who’s grown up entirely on Windows 2003/XP and put him in front of a rack of NT 4.0 machines with a similar task list, the chances are good that he [..] won’t get the job done - because NT 4.0 isn’t 2003/XP Server and he’ll end up rationalizing that it simply doesn’t do the things he doesn’t know how to do."
In other words, to be an MCSE you memorize a specific set of functions that you perform to accomplish a particular goal. With Linux, you will more likely need to understand why you perform functions.
My take on this? It validates what I've been saying for years. Most MCSE's I know weren't worth the paper their certificate was printed on and didn't deserve a certification to begin with. Throw them in front of a computer to troubleshoot a problem that wasn't on their test and they spin their wheels for hours before either finally googling an answer or... as I've seen several times in my own (past) employees... screw it up worse.
Give me someone who runs Linux on a home machine, and I guarantee they can troubleshoot any technical problem in both Linux and Windows. Years ago, I stopped hiring based on certificates. One certificate is nice to have, but I weigh a Microsoft Certified Professional equally with an MCSE+I, etc. Just because you had the spare change and the time to memorize hundreds of rote answers doesn't make you a decent technician.
I think people who use Linux
I think people who use Linux often do it after they have mastered Windows as a power user, and found that it still doesn't do everything they want it to, or how they want it to. Find yourself a decent Linux tinkerer, and you've probably found a ex-Windows power-user.
Well, I'm a MCSA and I know
Well, I'm a MCSA and I know that many colleagues just prepare the exams memorizing test questions without even reading the books.
I probably agree about a superior knowledge of a Linux system engineer compared to a Microsoft one.
I'm just not sure about the fact that a Linux engineer could perform better than a Microsoft one on a Windows system, and that's because:
when everything is GUI, your control is very low.
I think that someway the trial and error method is inborn in Windows system, as they are 'closed source'.
Just my two cents.
MCWCs ???
Microsoft Certified Wizard Clickers ???
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