The best approach would be to use either an old laptop and install Debian based Linux on it or to buy a single board computer such as the Raspberry Pi. Having access to the actual hardware gives you the opportunity to “mess around” with more aspects of the system. If you are looking forward to being hired as a freelance Linux Engineer in the Best Freelance Marketplace, visit Fieldengineer.com.
- The brilliant part of Linux is that there’s a multitude of “how to” articles on the internet that can walk you through just about anything you’re looking to do.
- In the new iproute2 package, the ss tool is used to achieve the same objectives.
- In general, technical systems engineers hold similar degree levels compared to linux engineers.
- They need to maintain local documentation, which gets updated on all features of servers.
Many of the packages that come preinstalled with openSUSE can provide you with incredible utility. RHEL comes pre-equipped with the SELinux security module, so you will find it easy to get started with managing access controls and system policies. You’ll also have access to linux network engineer tools like Cacti and Snort through the RPM and YUM package managers. Of all the Linux distributions, one of the most highly regarded among network engineers is Fedora—and there’s a simple reason why. They really helped me navigate my career change into software development.
The Role of Field Engineer
Assume that you’ve copied the backup.tar archive from your secondary storage location and are ready to extract your text files from it. Im starting to look for network engineering jobs and alot of them are asking for linux experience. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that only a quarter of IT professionals in 2018 and 2019 didn’t have a bachelor’s degree or higher. Network and software engineers who choose to pursue higher education typically study computer engineering, information systems, IT or some other related area of concentration. The most common majors for linux engineers are computer science, electrical engineering, and information technology.
One of the biggest advantages of using Debian for network engineering is that it has an incredible package-rich repository with over 59,000 different software packages. Wicked is a powerful network configuration framework, for example, while Samba is perfect for enabling file-sharing between Linux and Windows systems. You won’t have any trouble installing the right tool for a job with openSUSE’s Zypper package manager. Out of the box, you won’t have any issues configuring basic network settings through YaST (Yet another Setup Tool).
Systems Engineer
A tool such as tape archiver, or tar, can be pointed at a directory of files and told to create an archive of that resource. The proper tool depends on the backup goal and, ultimately, the restore requirements. Network engineers focus on networks, while software engineers focus on software. Both careers require IT professionals to design, implement and maintain their systems, whether networks or software. A large part of network engineering requires teams to monitor, maintain and troubleshoot the network, so network engineers tend to focus more on practical, analytic work in their roles.
- Torvalds isn’t swayed by some of the hype around Rust (“Rust has not really shown itself as the next great big thing”), but he’s still a fan, and not just for its technical merits.
- While some skills are required in each professionacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities, there are some differences to note.
- Certifications like CompTIA Linux+ validates the skills of IT pros with hands-on experience configuring, monitoring and supporting servers running on the Linux operating system.
- For instance, Docker is able to deliver container network isolation by leveraging network namespaces along with basic Linux interfaces and bridging.
- Like network engineers, software engineering roles can encompass different concentration areas, such as development, maintenance and management.
The diversity of Linux distributions is due to technical, organizational, and philosophical variation among vendors and users. The permissive licensing of free software means that users with sufficient knowledge and interest can customize any existing distribution, or design one to suit their own needs. By obtaining and installing everything normally provided in a distribution, an administrator may create a “distributionless” installation. It is possible to build such systems from scratch, avoiding distributions altogether.
Differences between network engineers vs. software engineers
As a technical person, it is always a good idea to try out different Linux distros and understand which one works best for you. For us, there is no reason to run Windows at home as LibreOffice, VLC , Firefox, and Thunderbird easily handle the most common use cases and other apps handle the rest. As a programmer by trade, I have access to any tool I choose to use (c, c++, Pascal, Fortran, Python, Perl, Cobol, Rust, Ada, etc.). I’ve been very happy with Ubuntu the last couple of years, Kubuntu to be exact. I’ve been running Linux since the first Slackware on a stack of floppies. Though there isn’t a single best Linux distro available for everyone, you can select the best Linux distribution based on your needs.
Implement security protocols to ensure the integrity of the network and data. Job growth for network engineering and administration in all technologies including Linux is expected to grow 4-5% in the next ten years. This article is part of an IT Career News series called Your Next Move.
