On Fri, 2003-01-17 at 04:21, Anthony Howe wrote: > I have to provide in-house tutorials on Unix (Linux) systems and > their administration to our Windows sys.admins. who know nothing > about Unix or its variants. > > The first tutorial is suppose to be some sort of overview, but I > have NO IDEA where begin or what to cover. Its my hope after the > first tutorial, my colleagues will provide me with more direction > as to the topics I should cover. But they sort of need to see a > menu of possibilities. > > My background is primarily programming, but I'm the only Unix > person in the firm who can build, program, and administer the > Linux machines, and so must train the Windows staff for our mail > and web servers that are slowly replacing Windows machines. > > They are curious, a little unsure, and french. Teach the philosophy of UNIX. When I had to teach a similar topic for users, one thing I realized was that Windows comes with a certain philosophy/approach to the OS. VMS has another one, and UNIX a third. The UNIX approach of "lots of small commands that do one thing well that can be combined with other commands" really can be foreign to someone used to the VMS "set" command. Spend some time on that, as it makes how everything links in together easier to understand. Build a cheat sheet of common user commands which has a brief description of what they do in *your* words. Tailor it to stuff that you see used a lot. If people aren't using awk, don't mention it. Start with how Windows approaches a topic, then explain how UNIX differs. There was a very good book "UNIX Administration for VMS Admins" (or something like that), which I as a UNIX Admin was able to use to learn some VMS admin because it highlighted key differences not just in commands, but in the fundamental concepts. Keep your goals small. Don't expect to cover a huge amount of material each session, or you may face a completely zoned out audience. More important than slides handed out can be a practical pamphlet that the users can use, even if it is initially just their cookbook. One UNIX SA I know, started out with no UNIX experience, just experience in some SA concepts, but he built up an effective cookbook of recipes of how to respond to individual situations. As he gained experience, he needed the cookbook less and less. They may not know the key books. Tell them what books they should consider obtaining in your opinion. -- mmccul@earthlink.net Mark McCullough "To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public." (Theodore Roosevelt, 1918)
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