# unix or linux?



## NetworkEngineer

Hi does anyone know which operating system will provide a better job prospect, is it Unix or Linux? I would like to learn one of these soon because I am currently working as a Windows sys admin but the salary of Unix or Linux admin seems to be higher. So I am looking to learn either one of these two but I am not sure which one to learn first so I thought I should go for one with a better job prospect. Many thanks.


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## matt1s

NetworkEngineer said:


> Hi does anyone know which operating system will provide a better job prospect, is it Unix or Linux? I would like to learn one of these soon because


Do mean Linux in terms of _open source distributions_ and Unix in terms of _proprietary distributions_? To get familiar with the subject, I recommend to get started with Fedora (as up-to-date as possible) or Debian (as stable as possible).




NetworkEngineer said:


> I am currently working as a Windows sys admin but the salary of Unix or Linux admin seems to be higher. So I am looking to learn either one of these two but I am not sure which one to learn first so I thought I should go for one with a better job prospect. Many thanks.


The so-called "better job prospect"... Working with Linux offers you the opportunity to study the platform and its administrative requirements in detail. As a Windows professional you'll be amazed how much you're able to learn or in terms of proprietary software: How much you are _allowed_ to learn.
Futhermore, the Windows operating system is solely regarded as a client, even so by the vendor.


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## greenbrucelee

Unix is generally used on its own although it can be mixed into a network of windows systems where as you will find a lot of businesses use Linux mixed with windows systems quite often.

Unix engineers could be seen as more specialised as administering it can be very demanding. What you may want to do is learn Linux first then learn Unix.

Dont go intoa career for the money as that will come go into a career where you have a chance to progress and that will eventually lead to the money.


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## shuuhen

There are quirks between the various Unix-like operating systems and Linux distributions, but a lot of the knowledge you gain with one Linux distribution or Unix-like operating system will transfer to another. Even Linux distributions can vary widely.

Unix is actually a fairly vague term. Do you mean Solaris, FreeBSD, OpenBSD or another Unix-like operating systems?

If you really want to learn them, Linux is easier to start with. You should at some point try installing them on real hardware, but you can easily start with virtualization. Throw together VMs for two or three Linux distributions and maybe one of the BSDs.

Make sure the Linux distributions are different in some respects. CentOS and Debian are different enough to be good choices, since they use different package management systems and you'd most likely run into one of them or similar distributions. Then you might consider trying a rolling release distribution like Gentoo or Arch. Make sure you learn how to use the command line to get administration tasks done.


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## NetworkEngineer

Hi many thanks for your responses. I will start with Linux because it is free. Going to install it on a VM.


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