Linux @lemmy.ml mFat @lemdro.id 7 mo. ago

How to make money with Linux (non coder)

Is it possible to make money using your Linux knowledge if you're not a developer? I know I can become a professional devops or sysadmin if I take some courses and master advanced networking. But is there something I can do now as an average, moderately experienced linux user?

29 comments

I'm sure someone will correct me but I believe 90% of professional Linux is done at a commandline, DEs are mostly for personal use

It's a useful skill to have for a number of different jobs but usually not the primary one as most techies have some working Linux knowledge anyway

Developers, pentesters, system architects and similar
- Did Linux sys admin type work for a few years and can confirm there was never a DE in sight
  
  I did nearly a decade. DE's (or just wms) on devs' desktops and obviously ssh or console shells on server and network hw. Devs may or may not take care of their own software, though.
  
  Also network protocols, sniffers, support, hardware, security... It tends to expand and admins are the goto for tech questions. So it's kind of a know everything about everything job. And a very thankless one, since if you do your work right, nobody will even notice what's going on since everything just works.
I started doing password resets for ISPs so developers could access their on-prem hardware. It's been about 10 years and now I write bash and python all day. make about 130k a year and do about 2-3 hours of work a day.
- Impressive, whats your job title? any tips on how to get that kind of gig?
  
  Sr. System Engineer.
  
  Learn linux, learn it well, and find a place where IT is the business, not a business with an IT department.
Typical onboarding scenario is to start at low level and climb up. Apply for helpdesk positions in companies with linux infrastructure. But the game is currently moving towards devops, so I would suggest you add some knowledge like ansible and terraform in your repertoire.
You can try to enroll into Linux Foundation Certified Sysadmin course. It is quite a respectable certification. Try to have some practice every day as well.
If you like teaching/training that could be an avenue to make money with some of that knowledge.

You would need to consolidate that knowledge and show that you have a good enough understanding of that topic to teach it but it's a pretty good way to learn more and make some money along the way.

Not every training needs to be kernel level types of expertise, a lot of people train on the basics of Linux and could use some training. For instance many business will send admins that are knowledgeable on Windows to learn also on Linux so they can do both at the same time.
- This is a brilliant idea. I love teaching and writing howtos.
- I don't get how one can get to teaching without provable certifications or experience. I mean who will hire Joe from his basement just because he claims he's "good at Linux". Unless you're talking for something else. Like him preparing a whole course in an online platform that will give it free in order to get some traction and hoping that this will attract customers
  
  Do you know if OP has certifications or experience?
  
  Do you know how knowledgeable he is on Linux ?
  
  Beside I will say it again, you can totally teach introductory courses on some subjects without being an expert on it.
  
  And in practice, I have definitely seen people teaching with tons of certifications and alleged expertise on the topic but who couldn't teach anything. And that was of very expensive courses on rather specific Linux topics.
  
  I personally would much prefer to be introduced to a new subject (like BASH101) by someone who has zero certifications but some experience and a real ability to teach.
  
  Because I have seen a lot of super certified teachers who ends up unable to teach anything and who are recycling the same course without any practical experience in the last decade.
I mean even with devops or sysadmin you usually want to write scripts that take care of deployment, automated tests or various housekeeping chores that are to time intensive or error prone when done manually. So it really hangs on how much of a "non-coder" you consider yourself as.

I mean scripts as in a block of code that when activated terminates on its own, they can get quite large and arbitrarily complex particularly when interacting with several different components.
Linux is an OS not a career. Most people who make money around Linux have college degrees.
- This isn't a helpful comment. OP is asking for ways to leverage their knowledge not suggesting that Linux itself is a career path.
  
  Such an open question. First of, whos the market, and where is he located.
Start a business installing Linux on peoples's old computers. Call it free as in freedom.
For example you could do website hosting? Set up limits for each customer directory, configure PHP and Apache and sell space + bandwidth packages.

The price per month got pretty high recently, and it might be interesting to position a company as "for the long term" (the big providers all hide their true monthly cost behind an introductory period, so you would have to swap every 2 years to get the best price)
- Thanks. Been thinking about reseller hosting for a while.
Tech Support. However I don't think many Linux user are in the need of one since it rarely is the default system someone gets and then he doesn't have somebody who helps him.
Buy a rpi 4 and use it to do a livestream of (pretty much anything you want).
- Thanks but not sure what you mean. Livestream what? Any examples?
  
  I think OP is saying become a streamer but use Linux instead of windows or mac.
  
  Like I said, anything you want. Just get creative.

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