Linux Game-Support Carrier

[JohnBr]

Hello everybody. I need help to select what to study to be able to apply for a future job at Steam, or Cannonical to give support for the games in Linux. I will do the LPI 01 and 02 this year, this is obviously essential, but what about a university degree? Should I do networking or programming? What programming language should I focus? I want to be ready for a trainee program in two years at most. Please assist, I really need help to get started.

Thank you very much for your help.

[ariendj]

LPI Level 1 (101/102) is rather cool and will give you a basic understanding of your system quickly.
I would advise you to read the book and/or take lessons instead of studying "braindumps" of the test.
LPI Level 2 (201/202) will get deeper into things as building your own kernel, setting up a RAID array and lots of networking goodness like NFS, DNS and the like.

I've passed 101/102/201 so far and I've learned a lot. I'll be doing 202 as soon as time permits.

There's quite some demand for linux sysadmins in the server space, I'm not that optimistic about the games industry though. Right now business is where the most money is for linux talent.

From what I have gathered so far supporting linux games has, for most people, remained a labor of love. Very good and bright people sometimes get hired based on the work they have already done for free. I haven't come across many job openings for linux games, there are probably more good programmers out there then there are good jobs.

My experience has so far been:
If your in it for the money foremost: Get into enterprise linux.
If your in it for the fame, glory and sharing: Support games, desktop linux etc. but prepare to make less money.

A university degree will always open doors for you of course. It will take more than 2 years though and requires loads of work and dedication, even if the stuff you're studying has nothing to do with linux or games.

Of course you can always get a linux related job first and then later get into the gaming world after linux gaming has grown up some more.

All of this is IMHO of course.

[JohnBr]

Thank you

That info was very important because those are decisions I have to make which will be very crucial for my future.

I will do LPI 01 and 02, get very good at the Ubuntu system and do university focusing on programming and games. If it does not work out, I will do servers which I like so much too. The fact is that Linux is fun and all of it is enjoyable to be working with.

Thanks again