8 May
2018
8 May
'18
10:34 p.m.
I'm curious as UNIX folks if somewhere can enlighten me. I sometimes
answer things on Quora and a few years ago the following question was
posted:
What does "Experience working in Unix/Linux environments" mean when given
as a required skill in company interviews? What do they want from us?
<https://www.quora.com/What-does-Experience-working-in-Unix-Linux-environments-mean-when-given-as-a-required-skill-in-company-interviews-What-do-they-want-from-us>
Why would this be considered a spam violation - which I was notified today
as being so.
It all depends the job for the specific experiences the hiring mangers want
to see. The #1 thing I believe they will looking for is something that does
not need to have a GUI to be useful. If you a simple user, it means you are
comfortable in a text based, shell environment and are at least familiar
with, if not proficient with the UNIX tools such as, ed, vi or emacs, grep,
tail, head, sed, awk, cut, join, tr, etc. You should be able to use one or
more of the Bourne Shell/Korn Shell/Bash family or CShell. You should be
familiar with the UNIX file tree and basic layout and its protection
scheme. It helps if you understand the differences between BSD, SysV, Mac
OSx, and Linux layout; but for many jobs in the UNIX community that may not
be required. You should also understand how to use the Unix man command to
get information on the tools you are using —* i.e.* you should have read,
if not own a copy of Kernighan and Pike The Unix Programming Environment
(Prentice-Hall Software Series): Brian W. Kernighan, Rob Pike:
9780139376818: Amazon.com: Books
<https://www.amazon.com/Unix-Programming-Environment-Prentice-Hall-Software/dp/013937681X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&keywords=kernighan+and+pike&qid=1478793529&s=books&sr=1-2>
and
be proficient in the first four chapters. If the job requires you writing
scripts to be able to write Shell script (*i.e.* program the shell) using
the Bourne Shell syntax *i.e.* Chapter 5 (Shell Programming).
If you are a programmer, then you need to be used to using the UNIX/Linux
toolchains and probably not require an IDE - again as a programmer
knowledge if not our proficiency of at least source code control system
from SCCS, RCS, CVS, SVN, Mercurial, git or the like needed. Kernighan and
Pike’s Chapter’s 6–8 should be common knowledge. But to be honest, you also
should be familiar with the contents contained within it, if not own and
keep a copy of the Rich Steven’s Advanced Programming in the UNIX
Environment, 3rd Edition: W. Richard Stevens, Stephen A. Rago:
9780321637734: Amazon.com: Books
<https://www.amazon.com/Advanced-Programming-UNIX-Environment-3rd/dp/0321637739/ref=dp_ob_title_bk>
(*aka* APUE) on your desk.
If you are system administrator, then the required set of tools get much
larger and besides the different way to “generate” (build) a system is a
good idea; but less tools for user maintenance. In this case you should be
familiar with, again if not own have a copy on your desk of Evi
Nemeth’s Amazon.com:
UNIX and Linux System Administration Handbook, 4th Edition (8580001058917):
Evi Nemeth, Garth Snyder, Trent R. Hein, Ben Whaley: Books
<https://www.amazon.com/UNIX-Linux-System-Administration-Handbook/dp/0131480057/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&keywords=evi+nemeth+unix&qid=1478793397&s=books&sr=1-1>
- which is and has been one of if not the best UNIX admin work for many,
many years.
Updated 05/07/18: to explain I am not shilling for anyone. I am trying to
honestly answer the question and make helpful recommendations of how to
learn what the person asked to help them be better equipped to be employed
in the Unix world. I used Amazon’s URL’s because they are global and easy
to use as a reference. But I am not suggesting you purchase from them. In
fact, if you can borrow a copy from you library to start, that might be a
good idea.