SCO Education?

Clueless in UNIX asks: "I'm new to UNIX and I would like to learn SCO. I don't have the $$$ to pay for their 3-day braindrain courses. I was wondering if anyone has learned through SCO's CBT or just using only the manuals? If so, I would like your opinion on its effectivness. Also, which version is more accepted for employment: OpenServer Rel 5 or Unixware7."

well...

[woggo]

SCO is cheap (IIRC); you can get the media and a horribly crippled license (1 user, no networking) for about $20 US. O'Reilly has a number of good books on the subject, including UNIX Systems Programming for SVR4 [amazon.com], which covers system-call-level differences between SCO and other SV-based Unices, and the "obvious choice": SCO Unix in a Nutshell [amazon.com].

As a fellow of conscience, though, I must attempt to dissuade you from this path. SCO may be cheap, but Linux and BSD are free and come with tons of apps (in the distros and ports, respectively). By contrast, if you want emacs (or gcc, or anything) on SCO, you're either buying a CD of precompiled GNU stuff from SCO or you're compiling it yourself. If you need a Linux/BSD CD, you can get one for under $5 from cheapbytes.com or myriad other vendors. If you absolutely must learn the quirks of a proprietary OS, do yourself a favor and pick up Solaris for Intel [sun.com], which is also available for about $20 (to students, developers, and home users), without the SCO enfeeblements. Furthermore, Sun is liable to remain financially solvent for the period of time it takes you to attain proficiency with their system.

Ask yourself "Why am I doing this?" If your aim is masochistic self-gratification, then I cannot recommend a better solution than an SVR3-based proprietary Intel UNIX that "features" Open DeathTrap [jargon.net]. However, if you want to be productive or have fun, Linux or BSD will suit you much better. (Bear in mind that most free software is developed on either Linux or BSD -- even though most stuff is portable, you're much more likely to have luck getting random stuff to run on a free unix. That's not FUD; just pragmatism.)

Perhaps you think that mad SCO skills will make you an employable, in-demand UNIX pimp. However, if you thought that, you'd be horribly wrong. A quick dice.com search revealed 578 jobs [dice.com] with the keyword "SCO". That might seem like a lot until you see that dice has 6,195 [dice.com] "Linux" positions and over 15,000 [dice.com] "Solaris" jobs in its database. (A quick vgrep of these results also reveals that Linux or Solaris nerds are paid a lot better than SCO Acheivers.)

There's also that little matter of the vultures circling around SCO, as any number of /. articles [slashdot.org] will attest.

In any case, good luck picking up the UNIX skills (wherever you choose to hone them). The community is great, and you're in for a fun ride!

~wog

A few things to do...

[benenglish]

I had the benefit of an employer who sent me to a half-dozen of the SCO authorized courses. Luckily, I went during the off-season for that particular training center [compclass.com] and had several classes to myself as well as a very sharp and flexible instructor who completely customized the content to me when I was the only student. (I've been, literally, to hundreds of courses in my day. The instructor that I had, Peter Lauda, was one of the best I've ever experienced. Just an incredibly knowledgeable guy with a talent for helping folks understand. He'd probably be too casual a guy for many folks, but I found him spot-on. And anyway, even if he'd been lousy, his knowledge of where to go in the evening to watch the Harleys go by and get a drink would have been enough to make him memorable. :) That excellent experience provided a great foundation.

That being said, I also learned a great deal from things I did on my own. First, I ordered both OpenServer Release 5 and Unixware from SCO for minimal cost from this page [sco.com]. Then I installed both several times on machines at home, making lots of mistakes and learning from every one of them. Eventually, I got boxes talking to each other at the house. During all this time, I used the manuals that came with the software and SCO's extensive online support. [sco.com]

Frankly, I think I could have done my job just from what I learned online and at home, but the classroom experience sure made it easier.

SCO is worst to learn first

[perigeeV]

While all proprietary unices have *quirks*, SCO is downright evil. The directory structure is a mess of spaghetti. I agree with all above that you would be much better off learning Solaris, Linux, or *BSD first. Once you learn the traditions common among unix variants it becomes easier to learn another distribution.

I can't help you with the quality of SCO or anyone else's training programs. I use manuals, books, blood, and the web.

Why SCO?

[Jon Shaft]

Why do you want to learn just SCO? Is that just for a better chance at employment? If so, you might want to start cheap and maybe start witha A Linux distribution or one of the BSD's. Any of these operating systems can give you a good ground on the basic manuvering and managing of UNIX in general. Once you learn one of these styles it's very easy to start adapting to other UNIXes. On the other hand, check out your local library. There are quite a number of books written on SCO now...

However, if your an avid Slashdot reader you'd notice Caledra (A linux distribution) just bout around %28 of the SCO company. I believe SCO will soon be phased out of more and more businesses and replaced with Linux. SCO used to be the great x86 UNIX, but now it's just more and more dying liike the BBSes of old day we all used to know and love. But like I said, I'd go with one of the free x86 UNIX clones first to get a grasp on reality. :-)

Good luck!

Expand your Vision

[darrad]

I am in total agreement on not trying to learn SCO first. But let me take it one step further. Learn UNIX, doesn't matter which dist. you pick, pick one and learn it. I don't have any personal experience with Linux, but from what I have heard, it is a good starting point, as it is free and there is a wealth of knowledge here and other places on the web. I am running SCO myself,(Open Server Enterprise 505) and it is very jumbled. The thing is full of linked directories that make it hard to see what is going on. I have attended several of the training classes, but if I had to pay for them myself, I would never go. At an average of $2000 per course, I was disappointed in the depth of the training. Felt like I was at a Windows "everyone can do this" type course. Thats my opinion..whats yours?