Are you a student who is looking at ways of furthering their education, or a recent graduate who wants to improve their employability in a well-paying sector, or even someone who wants to make a career change? Here is why I believe that learning how to use Linux at a professional level would be a great start for you.

Linux is the operating system of choice for a variety of environments, such as web servers, mobile devices, and even home and office desktops. For example, did you know that Android, the operating system running on many smartphones, uses a modified Linux kernel?

And what about the cloud, which is mostly reliant on Linux? I think we all heard about the cloud and keeping things on the cloud which, in computing, can be defined as “a computer network where files and programs can be stored, especially the Internet” (Cambridge Dictionary). More specifically, this means that when you store your photos or other files on the cloud, you are actually keeping them on servers that are accessed over the Internet, rather than using your own hardware. Growing companies find this particularly useful, because it offers a cheaper alternative to all the extra hardware resources they would need to invest in.

Why is Linux preferred for all these environments?

The answer is probably linked to its reliability, flexibility and adaptability. Linux almost never crashes, hence the choice of Linux-based systems for 80 per cent web servers. It is also the go-to platform for almost every developer, because it is open-source and can be modified according to someone’s needs. The open-source ecosystem offers a variety of tools and applications which are fairly easy to integrate in the development environment running on a Linux machine. The Linux OS can be modified and adapted to run on almost every hardware, starting from IoT (Internet of Things) devices, mobile phones, routers, switches and even old PCs with low resources on which you cannot run Windows.

Career options

With a widespread use comes an array of work options and professional development opportunities, in areas ranging from customer support to systems administration and even software development. You could start your journey in an entry-level customer support role dealing with general queries and work your way up to becoming a Linux Administrator, who deals with more specific tasks like installing, configuring and maintaining Linux operating systems. After you have gained broad experience and knowledge, you could even become an independent consultant who offers customized solutions to companies.

To sum up, owing to all the qualities mentioned in the previous paragraphs, a journey towards advanced knowledge of Linux-based systems could set you on the right path for a successful career in cloud computing, system administration or even software development.