Online college linux course?

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airforcematt

airforcematt

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Dec 22, 2006
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Hey guys - anyone know of a accredited online college that offers linux training that results in college credits? I'm looking to leverage some of that 100% tuition assistance I get through the Air Force into something that will be useful to me day to day.
 


Almost all organizations and colleges offer online training now. Find a technical school in your area that offers online courses is my recommendation.

Here is the truth about paid education:
Accredited private/state Colleges: Full of 2-year-old+ material (some as old as 5-6) and instructors who are FAR removed from the world of profit and innovation. Stay far away.

For-profit colleges: Full of 2-year-old material but has a few instructors who know their shit. These guys base class offerings off of economic indicators and local business steering committees. Stay away if you can help it.

Tech universities: Mostly up to date material, BUT, most of the instructors are part-time because they work in the real world full time. Most are also seasoned veterans with very current experience. This is where you learn the nitty gritty of a topic, not just the theory or concept.

Technical Education Centers: Microsoft Training, Cisco Training, IT Training, Computer Training, Certifications - New Horizons Computer Learning Centers for example is an excellent resource. They put uber-amounts of training, certifications, and real world experience into their instructors and are great for niche learning. Plus they are in SO much hurt right now you can EASILY negotiate a 5-6 course deal for the cost of 2 courses. Trust me, they'll take $6K for 5 courses, especially since it's online.

Obviously meet the teaching staff at any place you consider attending, if you can't meet them and size them up, don't fucking bother.
 
In all seriousness though unless you really want the credit you are best off learning this yourself. Pick up a book on general linux administration, best practices and all that jazz, and get rolling with Ubuntu on an old computer. There is a shitton of documentation out there specific to Ubuntu and tons of people willing to answer questions. Check this out: Ubuntu:Intrepid - You can pretty much paste the code they give you to complete any task they have spec'd out. Keep doing this until things start to make sense. Also when you are ready to throw up a production server you can use debian. ...which you will already know how to use because it is nearly the same thing as ubuntu.
 
Thanks for the suggestions guys - I am actually in the middle of converting my old desktop to ubuntu this evening, if that goes well I intend to make the swap on my main computer soon, vista is getting on my nerves.
bb_wolfe - good points, one problem I have is that if I want to use the USAF's tuition assistance I have to find a accredited school, that trade school you linked me to has an affiliation with a college, going to check and see what I can find out about it and if it's on the pre-approved list of schools tomorrow. I'm no fan of orginized education but I am rapidly reaching a point in my career where having at least some college credit is necessary for career progression, figured I'd at least look into learning something useful as I go about "checking the degree box"
 
Definitely make sure you talk to someone in the dept before registering; they'll let you know about some of the things the catalog won't. At the 2-yr school I used to go to, there was a linux course in the catalog every semester, but it never made because it never had enough people. On the flip side, the Cisco/CCNA courses usually filled up the first week.
 
airforcematt said:
Thanks for the suggestions guys - I am actually in the middle of converting my old desktop to ubuntu this evening, if that goes well I intend to make the swap on my main computer soon, vista is getting on my nerves.
bb_wolfe - good points, one problem I have is that if I want to use the USAF's tuition assistance I have to find a accredited school, that trade school you linked me to has an affiliation with a college, going to check and see what I can find out about it and if it's on the pre-approved list of schools tomorrow. I'm no fan of orginized education but I am rapidly reaching a point in my career where having at least some college credit is necessary for career progression, figured I'd at least look into learning something useful as I go about "checking the degree box"
Click to expand...

You already made the first good move, purely moving your desktop to a linux environment. If you know winblows worth a damn it'll take you less than a week to get pretty much up to speed with Ubuntu. Over the next few months you'll realize you can much more that that box and you'll explore it. Within 6-8 you should be pretty pro with Ubuntu at least.

I had a buddy about 4 years ago get a degree in network administration, and I could run circles around the guy in Linux.
 
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