[05:32] <joerger> I was wondering what ways people here have increased their knowledge of linux.  I already run a mostly linux environment with the exception of gaming(but isnt frequent since my classes take a lot of time out of day) and one software package that I could not get to run natively.
[05:32] <pleia2> got a job running linux servers ;)
[05:33] <joerger> did you have any previous knowledge of linux before that?
[05:33] <pleia2> mostly I pick projects and then figure out how to do them
[05:33] <pleia2> "I wonder how to run a webserver" etc etc
[05:34] <joerger> so go through installation guides?
[05:34] <pleia2> so I'd been a hobbiest for about 4 years before I became a junior sysadmin
[05:34] <pleia2> yep
[05:35] <joerger> I am about to hit my first year of (almost) all linux booting by the end of this month but that is impressive.  Did doing that help you with on the job experience of setting those systems up?
[05:36] <pleia2> oh yes, plus I loved it and was always eager to learn, which are pretty key requirements for being a sysadmin :)
[05:37] <joerger> i love linux...honestly i feel as though I have less headaches to worry about then my peers when it comes to getting our files to "just work"...today even i loaded up a kid I was teaching some C++ to and the files werent working for him under windows popped them onto my machine and boom compiled and worked under the same compiler
[05:38] <joerger> I do like to learn but I dont have enough pcs to play around with (isnt that always the case)
[05:39] <pleia2> virtualbox is your friend
[05:39] <pleia2> you don't need lots of PCs to learn stuff these days, just fire up some virtual machines to play with
[05:40] <pleia2> I recently even had a small cluster running virtualizaton on top of virtualization for some testing
[05:40] <joerger> your opinions of VMware vs VB...I get a free copy of VMware from my school and hmmm never thought of treating them in that way...
[05:40] <joerger> did i understand you correctly...a cluster of vms within a cluster of vms?
[05:41] <pleia2> virtualbox is open source and that's where my interests are, I don't often pay for software so VMWare is out
[05:41] <pleia2> I actually use KVM mostly though
[05:41] <pleia2> a cluster of VMs running on my desktop, with VMs load balanced between them
[05:42] <joerger> im really into the FOSS mentality...but i couldnt get the linux generic headers to work under 12.04 and then found i got VMware for free...so I closed my mouth and "ponied" up
[05:42] <pleia2> I'm still using 12.04 on my desktop and haven't had a problem, maybe figuring out how to get it working is a learning experience? :)
[05:43] <joerger> so from reading the description quickly about KVM...it seems like its a software way to tell the kernel that the system can VM?
[05:44] <pleia2> it's another virtualization technology like VMWare or VB, it just doesn't have a pretty graphical interface
[05:44] <joerger> true thats a good idea...weekend project for sure...
[05:44] <joerger> so all command line?
[05:44] <joerger> i like the sound of that
[05:44] <pleia2> you use something like virtual machime manager and libvirt tools to control it (virtual machine manager and libvirt tools give you the same tools for a bunch of virtualization technologies so you can use the same commands to control KVM, VB, VMWare...)
[05:44] <joerger> thats pretty interesting...(VM cluster)
[05:45] <pleia2> yeah, so by default KVM is all command line
[05:45] <pleia2> virtual machine manager is a gui, but it's quite limited :)
[05:46] <joerger> not scared of the command line so personally rather tackle it head on and i dont like being limited
[05:46] <pleia2> great attitude to have
[05:47] <pleia2> http://blog.remoteresponder.net/2012/05/17/an-infrastructure-for-server-clusters-for-high-availability/ talks a bit about the cluster infrastructure I deploy at work (that's my work blog)
[05:47] <pleia2> (for another 2 weeks anyway!)
[05:47] <joerger> thank you...and moving somewhere else?
[05:48] <pleia2> yeah, got a job where I actually get to work on infrastructure for an open source project directly, hooray :)
[05:48] <joerger> right now im a Medical Informatics major picking up IT for a dual major (should have come in as straight IT) and trying to decide what/where I want to do my Masters in CS or Networking Sys. Admin(a la your job)
[05:48] <joerger> and that sounds awesome :) I would love to work for open source project and get paid to do it
[05:49] <pleia2> my fiance is a network engineer, he seems to enjoy it
[05:49] <pleia2> and yeah, it's pretty much a dream come true :)
[05:49] <joerger> I think FOSS and GNU stuff is great and luck you :)
[05:49] <joerger> what does he do? more blue prints or networking of devices?
[05:49] <joerger> lucky*
[05:50] <pleia2> he's a senior engineer, so it's more like broad policy decisions for big networks, integrations and also attends conferences to represent the company he works for at major international network policy meetings
[05:52] <joerger> hmmm interesting...sounds like a lot of meetings lol
[05:52] <pleia2> haha, yeah
[05:54] <joerger> Im browsing through your blog and it appears like you do more of the implementation from those meetings...
[05:56] <pleia2> yeah, I'm definitely more of a traditional systems person
[05:57] <joerger> I like getting my hands dirty more than meetings (Blah :p)
[05:58] <pleia2> hehe
[06:00] <joerger> it seems like a pretty standard question but what distros/WM do you run?
[06:01] <pleia2> mostly Xubuntu for desktop stuff and Debian on servers
[06:02] <joerger> debian over a headless ubuntu install? looking for the stability i would assume
[06:02] <pleia2> pretty much
[06:03] <pleia2> at work they've used debian for over a decade, no compelling reason to switch
[06:04] <pleia2> actually pretty much the same thing personally for me, debian is super stable and it works fine, I don't need the latest things on a basic webserver
[06:04] <joerger> ohhh that would do it and true that makes sense...rather have it working then having to try and fix things
[06:05] <pleia2> yeah, breaking things is only fun when they aren't in production
[06:06] <joerger> now being in the work force what technologies do you see really starting to sprout and take off?
[06:06] <joerger> and when its not finals week and you have a large project due
[06:06] <joerger> a la windows corrupting my boot record
[06:07] <pleia2> ouch, right
[06:07] <pleia2> virtualization is huge, everyone is moving from bare metal to lots of machines on one host
[06:07] <pleia2> (or balanced in some kind of cluster of multiple physical hosts)
[06:09] <pleia2> beyond that, much of the same as always, webservers, databases, same old stuff on top of a different base
[06:10] <joerger> so the cool/new stuff is still under the skin and not on top of the skin?
[06:12] <pleia2> yep
[06:12] <pleia2> I actually just learned about this last week: http://www.opsschool.org/en/latest/
[06:12] <pleia2> looks to be good for learning, and is in active development
[06:13] <joerger> thank you for all this great information! Time for me to go. also as a side note.  Im from PA as well NE corner
[06:13] <joerger> nice thank you :) will totally look into this :)
[06:13] <pleia2> sure, have a good night :)
[06:14] <joerger> thank you! you as well
[06:14] <joerger> !!
[06:14] <pleia2> thanks