[PLUG] Once again Linux has proven to me it is good for the career

Michael Rasmussen michael at jamhome.us
Fri Mar 23 13:19:47 UTC 2012


A flip of Kirk's recent rant.

Sometime around 1994 or 1995 I replaced the SCO Unix and Novell Netware
at home with a network of Linux machines. Used them to learn the back
end of all the fundamental services:  firewall, DNS, NTP, SMTP, SNMP ...
Then whenever a problem came up at work that required the skill I knew
more than my coworkers and got to have fun and make money. Bosses liked
this and so did I.

Today I received a call from HR.  The internal transfer I applied for?
We'd like to offer you the job.  

I'm getting to move on to intensely interesting work - fraud detection.
Skills and experience gained through Linux systems were a key factor
in getting the job.  Having a home lab of three physical machines was
a asset in the manager's eyes.  He especially liked the comment "When
learning I need a lab where I can break things."

A small part of the job will be managing an infrastructure of scores
of servers.  A big part will be analyzing traffic, malware samples,
and figuring out fraudsters new techniques so we can continue to block
their efforts.

It's all built on a foundation of skills acquired by running a network
of Linux boxes at home.

-- 
            Michael Rasmussen, Portland Oregon  
Fortune Cookie Fortune du jour:
I refuse the iPod because it is an audio bubble that shuts you off from the world, 
which is where good ideas come from.
	~  Garrison Keillor



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