At 03:16 PM 8/1/01 +0000, data com wrote: >Carroll, > >I got CCNP and CCDP but I am pretty new to UNIX system. >I want to lean UNIX with a focus on networking part for the following reasons. >-integrate UNIX system to the internetwork >-use UNIX for device management using scripts > >Now, what flavour of UNIX do you recommend to learn as a start? I suppose >there is a flavour which contains many commands that also work on other >systems, and also a flavour that is most commonly used. > >Thank you in advance, >Marc I suggest FreeBSD, but any Unix can be leveraged as a basic learning tool to learn other Unices. If you really understand the concepts and theory of how unix systems are designed, you can easily adopt other unices. The problem with the "universal flavor" is that all unices for the most part have their roots within two types of unix systems. BSD and SysV. Most commercial unices will be very SysVish. This means their init scripts are usually different, and the layout is going to be different than a BSD like machine. The freeware OSes tend to be very BSDish. Unfortunately, this puts you in a bind. There really is no "one unix to rule them all". :( Even if you do pick a BSDish like userland like FreeBSD, some binaries are different than say Redhad Linux. Things like "route print" would not work in FreeBSD, but "netstat -rn" would work in FreeBSD and in Solaris x86! In BSDish (and open source) terms, Linux distributions are probably the most used. However, they seem to do a lot of nasty non-standard things like Microsoft. Namely, their GNU route and GNU netstat are drastically different. Plus, their /bin/sh is NOT shell script but rather BASH! ARGH! I feel FreeBSD is far cleaner. In SysV (and commercial) terms, Solaris has definitely become a king. If you want to get good with SPARC hardware, buy a Sun Blade. (not suggested unless you REALLY want to be a Sun head) If you just want to learn Solaris, you are in luck as Solaris x86 is available for free I believe. (I bought my copy for ~$80bucks?). Solaris x86 will most definitely be less forgiving on the hardware support. I feel any BSD, Linux, or Solaris are great starters. Just pick one, and get really good with it. The others will be easily acquired if you run into them. Learn any of them well enough, and you can easily do the two things you mentioned. -integrate UNIX system to the internetwork -use UNIX for device management using scripts Good luck! -Carroll Kong Message Posted at: http://www.groupstudy.com/form/read.php?f=7&i=14525&t=14525 -------------------------------------------------- FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html Report misconduct and Nondisclosure violations to [EMAIL PROTECTED]