I've used Mint and Ubuntu as desktop OS and they are very similar. I prefer Ubuntu. Happy trails.

Dave is right on LAMP servers though, far and away the most used server platform driving the Internet, and will continue to be. It's just flat out reliable.

It's a safe bet to assume the money/opportunities are in Windows (not that you're assuming... you obviously have the experience)... of course that's what people are familiar with and it's what needs to be fixed.

I certainly wouldn't say Linux is dying and (depending on what you meant, I guess) has no future in business. It's not going to take over the application layer any time soon, but it's the backbone of what you see and gets shit done on the back end. I don't know what that translates out to in salaries and what not, but it's definitely not just a toy for geeks.

It's not even close to dying... I believe this is my second post in this thread and I've since gotten my LPIC.
A survey in the latest pcworld magazine shows one of IT businesses top missions in 2014 is beefing up their linux support/talent.
We now have 4 unix admins and we are all very well paid and always have a full plate.

edit: A toy for geeks? That's probably the dumbest ****ing thing I've read from you - and I consider you a somewhat knowledgable person in IT...

A good portion of all SoC based appliances, whether you're talking about networking gear, video streaming devices, or whatever else, are running a Linux kernel of some kind.

It's not dead, it's evolving.

I am a Application Administrator - The web application runs best on the LAMP stack and because the company is mostly a windows shop my boss and I are the main Linux Administrators as well.

We've been showing the windows guys some tricks.. I'm a Linux Nerd lol I got my Linux+ back in 2008, which means I have it for life without retesting lol

Go with SUSE, Fedora or CentOS. Don't use the Desktop, Do everything at the Console.

I was a long time Windows Admin and got stuck doing UNIX/AIX and now RHEL and not having a GUI to start was the hardest part.

Just start off Command line.

Linux is dying

Riiiight

Linux is the best thing to have on your resume. I have done Linux work for a decade and constantly get job offers because of my Linux experience.

VMWARE and Linux.

https://thevarguy.com/open-source-ap...c-starts-aug-1

Speaking of Linux on a resume...

These are the most common distro's I see in the Enterprise space, along with RHEL.

I'm good with whatever bastardized versions are running shell/expert mode on our various networking gear/appliances/SAN.

All are rpm based distros

Most are centos clones or neutered versions of centos

Correct.

Anyone interested eDX is offering a free online 'into to Linux' course. It's self-paced unline all their other courses so time is no excuse. It starts and the very basics and takes you up to advanced scripting, networking functions and processes.

It used to be $800 course (classroom) if I remember correctly. I'm starting today if anyone else gets in let me know and we can meld minds.

https://www.edx.org/school/linuxfoundationx

Desperately in need of a Linux refresher.

That's great! Thanks for the heads up.