Linux is the world's fastest growing OS!

Information Technology professionals must keep their skills and knowledge sharp and up to date in order to remain competitive and deliver innovative, value-adding solutions. Right now, this means obtaining the skills and knowledge required to support and develop soultions for Linux desktops and servers.

Linux is growing at a phenomenal rate, complementing and in many cases displacing legacy, proprietary Operating Systems. Linux and Open Source Software has caused the IT industry to take notice as all major vendors now have a Linux/Open Source strategy. These strategies run from full support and embrace of Linux to a stance of fighting against this Open Source wave. Those who fail to develop a Linux strategy do so at their own peril.

Linux has moved from a techie toy to the edge of the enterprise to the mainstream of the IT ecosystem. Linux servers have proliferated throughout corporate IT data centers, small and medium-sized businesses and government and educational institutions worldwide. The financial sector stands out in its aggressiveness of leveraging the price/performance benefits of the Lintel (Linux on Intel architecture) platform.

Most organizations have moved to Linux because of; the reduced costs associated in operating Lintel servers, the increased reliability and the large number of Open Source software tools and products available. A typical Linux distribution includes all of the free Open Source tools and products required to support a file/print server, web server, ftp server, database server, email server, directory server, dns server, dhcp server, proxy server, vpn server and firewall. If any of the tools or products are not included with the Linux distribution, they are only a download away. Linux is also an excellent development platform with most distributions shipping perl, python, ruby, c, c++, php, assembler and assorted shells. Java is a free download and may or may not be bundled with the distribution. All of the above are bundled without any additional licensing costs.

Small businesses may opt for a free download of a 'community-based' distribution such as Fedora, Debian, Ubuntu or OpenSuSe with a support contract from their local consultant. Enterprise customers require accountability in the support of a Linux distribution. Red Hat, Novell/Suse and Ubuntu are among the leading Linux distributions in the Enterprise market. Enterprise customers typically require a longer software release cycle, a well documented product roadmap, support for Independent Software/Hardware Vendors, 24x7 support and training.

Major corporations, government and education institutions are beginning to leverage the power and elegance of Linux and Open Source software. It is critical that IT professionals develop the skills and knowledge to become proficient as Linux users, developers or administrators.

Contact us today to see how we can help you bring your Linux skills up to date!