1

Hi all

TL;DR: I’m getting really sick of Windows and am wondering if the thought of switching to being a Linux admin is just a case of everything being greener on the other side.

I’m currently a sys admin at a large-ish company that is dominated by Windows on the desktop completely and also mostly Windows server (with the exception of 3 linux servers). I’ve been a Windows user my entire life but the last couple years, the more I learn and start to do, the more I hate it. 2016 and 2019 servers take 3-6 hours to update, then sometimes they just won’t until a reboot happens meaning I have to take the servers offline twice. Stuff breaking for seemingly no reason and needing a reboot just seems par for the course. The linux servers (that I have largely taken over) update in under a minute without fail.

The linux servers, I build/configure and can just leave them for an eternity and they’ll keep doing what they’ve been told. The Windows servers (admittedly we have a lot more of) just have random problems constantly, and that holds true for the desktop as well. I’ve completely removed Windows from my home, am administrating my own home server that runs on linux which I’m enjoying. I’m also using linux on my laptop at home which I’m also enjoying. In saying all this obviously running a small linux server at home is very different to running an entire infrastructure for a business.

Does anyone here have experience switching sides, thoughts on it? was it actually better? Do you see anything better about the Windows side? etc.

Thanks for any input, I’ve been thinking about it for a while but just wouldn’t mind some insight from people who have made the switch, or maybe have always been Linux admins and dabbled in Windows admin.

44 Spice ups
2

I was once told (but too stupid to follow) that a combination UNIX/Linux Admin with top-notch Windows Admin skills is VERY much in demand in the job market. Definitely worth pursuing! Most Admins are a touch snobbish, specializing in one and DETESTING the other…

24 Spice ups
3

Thank you, I hate the elitism surrounding OS use. I think use the right tool for the job, my problem is that I’m just struggling to see any reason to use Windows outside of compatibility I suppose.

7 Spice ups
4

Welcome to the community!

How long have you been doing Windows sysadmin work?

How many Windows servers are you helping to manage? How big is the team?

It might be that your organization isn’t doing a very good job of managing Windows. Yes, 2016 takes a while to patch. We let them patch automatically on the weekend in general, and don’t spend any time babysitting them. Windows 2019 patches better, as does 2012 and 2012 R2.

We find Windows servers to be pretty stable. We have hundreds, from 2003 R2 to 2019.

It’s certainly good to know how to manage both, at least at a basic level.

6 Spice ups
5

Having trained/learned mostly on windows and knowing/understanding an immense amount of the MS world, I “lucked” into a Linux systems engineer position with a government contractor (had a decent bit of Linux knowledge too - learned a little of this and a little of that on both platforms). I just say, Linux is much more reliable and, as you’ve seen, is easier to “administrate”. There are a few aspects of windows that I prefer (maybe only one, lol) - Active Directory. Unfortunately, there is nothing like it for Linux. Other than that, there are a multitude of open source applications that allow one to easily do most administration tasks easily and with need to pay for expensive licenses. BASH scripting is very easy to learn and with ansible and puppet and numerous other methods, administration is really easy, fast and reliable. As has been said, the bigger your “knowledge portfolio”, the more in demand you can/will be. I’m my position, I’ve been thrust into pretty much strictly Linux role as far as administration but still use windows on the daily unclassified laptop because it’s easier to control.

3 Spice ups
6

Both Windows and Linux have merit. I employ both in our ecosystem currently. As far as what to use - it’s about the best tool for the job, for the budget and skillset you have available.

4 Spice ups
7

Certainly agree with AD being a big benefit, and lucky you! (I think) thanks :slight_smile:

8

Most of those “elitist” are usually the ones who get left behind for being so narrow-minded…reminds me of the mainframe guys I used to work with during Oct. 2000 - Aug. 2005 when I was on the Unix side of the room…they hated when I talked anything *nix or Windows related because to them “Big Iron” (mainframe) was superior to everything in the world…when I was interviewed back then by the company the manager whose group I’d be working with asked if I’d be willing to teach the crew on our shift (they had 4 shifts) a little *nix and Windows stuff…I agreed and even made printouts explaining different commands in *nix and Windows, the differences between them, how to do searches within Windows and *nix…what did they do with those printouts?? Throw them away IN FRONT OF ME!! So when 2005 rolled around and the entire IT department was outsourced who was more marketable and got a job with a $7500 sign on bonus?? Not them!! Of the 30 of us between the 4 shifts the outsourcing company only kept 2 operators and 2 supervisors. My point: Do what you feel is right for you and your future career. Don’t let the attitudes of others sway your vision!! At the end of the day the ONLY person you have to answer is yourself!! Good luck!!

12 Spice ups
9

Glad that someone agrees how dumb it is. Thank you!

1 Spice up
10

Nothing wrong with knowing a good bit about Windows… especially when it comes to AD, LDAP and other enterprise sorts of things.

Certainly, ChromeOS, macOS (Darwin-based Unix), Linux and proper Unix variants all have plusses and minuses too that may be worth learning about as well.

In addition to operating systems and sysadmin of them, there is an entire universe of Docker and various forms of containerization and orchestration that can lead down paths to cloud engineering, security and elsewhere…

5 Spice ups
11

Solaris, AIX, OS2 Warp, and OS400, those are ALL better than anything above! I’ve heard it all.

Here’s my point - fight the OS battles all you want. Know them all.

5 Spice ups
12

They both have their pain points. Just wait until you have a lot of Linux machines that have to be joined to the domain and domain auth breaks. Then you get to experience the pain point of both worlds at the same time.

15 Spice ups
13

Knowing both is definitely a big plus point.

However, the issues you’re describing are not OS related, they’re manager related. You could easily shift to a linux role and have a manager who operates in the same way.

Nothing wrong with learning linux, but don’t believe it will fix the issues you’re describing as they’re not technical.

2 Spice ups
14

I’m really happy to see the community saying that it’s not an either/or scenario… it’s both/and.

9 Spice ups
15

You should go for a Linux role. You’ve got a solid understanding of both, from what it sounds like. You WILL have headaches with Linux work as well but I believe you already know this. It seems you are looking for something more. You want to learn more and not be sitting watching paint dry (server/host updates). People are commenting that these issues are management related and that is mostly untrue. Linux is a flat file system type, which you will hear all the time. You have seen that Linux will update quickly reliably, and in most cases while being used. Windows servers will hang on updates every so often and require a reboot causing various headaches. Windows has a lot of bloat and runs slower using more resources. There is an option to use Open LDAP but ADUC is very user friendly and feature rich. The reason Windows is so widely used is because people are used to it and it is (deceptively) easy to operate and admin. Developers will not often develop certain software for Linux because of lack of market share. End users do not want to learn new software and it requires additional training as well. Slowly, things are starting to change.

Go for the Linux SYSADMIN role. There will be some growing pains, but this should be lessened by your wide adoption of the Linux system. You will, likely, be happier overall. You have an interest in growing your knowledge of Linux domains. Most the work I see is related to government with clearance, or security/security research. So you may want to look into the duties of those types of positions. I would say at least you will see what it is like first hand and what way you want to go in the long run. I would at least give it a shot for a few years. That should be enough time to get the role down. Then you will know for sure what route you want to go. It sounds like you have already begun your journey down this route and are just concerned about the risk of taking a, possibly, risky step. I think you should do it so you aren’t forever wondering what’s on the other side of the door.

6 Spice ups
16

Ahem, best tool for the job, please!

4 Spice ups
17

You should go for a Linux role. You’ve got a solid understanding of both, from what it sounds like. You WILL have headaches with Linux work as well but I believe you already know this. It seems you are looking for something more. You want to learn more and not be sitting watching paint dry (server/host updates). People are commenting that these issues are management related and that is mostly untrue. Linux is a flat file system type, which you will hear all the time. You have seen that Linux will update quickly reliably, and in most cases while being used. Windows servers will hang on updates every so often and require a reboot causing various headaches. Windows has a lot of bloat and runs slower using more resources. There is an option to use Open LDAP but ADUC is very user friendly and feature rich. The reason Windows is so widely used is because people are used to it and it is (deceptively) easy to operate and admin. Developers will not often develop certain software for Linux because of lack of market share. End users do not want to learn new software and it requires additional training as well. Slowly, things are starting to change.

Go for the Linux SYSADMIN role. There will be some growing pains, but this should be lessened by your wide adoption of the Linux system. You will, likely, be happier overall. You have an interest in growing your knowledge of Linux domains. Most the work I see is related to government with clearance, or security/security research. So you may want to look into the duties of those types of positions. I would say at least you will see what it is like first hand and what way you want to go in the long run. I would at least give it a shot for a few years. That should be enough time to get the role down. Then you will know for sure what route you want to go. It sounds like you have already begun your journey down this route and are just concerned about the risk of taking a, possibly, risky step. I think you should do it so you aren’t forever wondering what’s on the other side of the door.

So can you explain why Linux would be better than windows in resolving the issue of

  • Manager prefers all updates to be done manually on each machine, rather than scripted

  • Manager prefers monitoring systems to regularly report everything is OK rather than exceptions

  • Previous tech set up things differently from how you’d have done it?

Not saying there’s anything wrong with linux, although I don’t buy all the koolaid about it being much more stable etc etc, it DOES have issues too. Just that the issues the OP highlighted won’t be fixed by changing to ANY OS

As others have said, having a good level of proficiency in both is the best position to be in, and there are pros and cons to both OS’s

@blakeoconnor2

5 Spice ups
18

At my current job we use both. I don’t lean one way or the other when it comes to business, although personally I’m a FOSS enthusiast.

19

I agree you shouldn’t be an OS elitist. Windows and Linux both have their place in IT.

If you want to poo poo an OS then you should of course be trashing Mac OS!

7 Spice ups
20

I have been doing both for the last 15 years and I will say that at a minimum it keeps life interesting constantly switching sides. With Powershell going open source life has gotten somewhat easier. Having aliases on both sides that point to the complementizing command makes it a lot easier.