There’s also something to be said for the Unix pipeline/filter model of processing. That way of breaking down a task into small steps, wiring little programs to filter the data for each step, building up the solution iteratively, essentially a form of function composition. Immedidately, you can do a lot of powerful one-off or scripting tasks right from the command line. More generally, it’s a very powerful model to have in your head, can transform your thinking.

-Tod

On Oct 27, 2014, at 9:53 AM, Cary Gordon <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> It really depends on what you mean by "learn Unix."
> 
> I agree with Eric that many tools, particularly open source tools, are more
> robust on l
> Linux. This is because most of their development communities are building
> on Linux, so new features and bug fixes show up their first.
> 
> I live in the open source, Linux-based development world, as as a service
> and management tool developer, I never use Linux GUIs. I think that folks
> who are going to be installing and maintaining services on Linux servers
> should become comfortable with the command line tools The will be using.
> 
> Commercial Unix systems are dying out except for specialized industries
> like banking and airlines. It also hangs on in systems that use the
> full-boat Oracle suite, although it may be losing ground there.
> 
> The most popular flavor families of Linux — RedHat (Fedora, CentOS, AWS)
> and Debian (Ubuntu) — as well as the system that underlies OS X share a
> common toolset, which makes it much easier to move from one to another than
> it is to move between BSD and System V based proprietary Unix systems.
> 
> Cary
> 
> On Monday, October 27, 2014, Siobhain Rivera <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
>> Hi everyone,
>> 
>> I'm part of the ASIS&T Student Chapter and Indiana University, and we're
>> putting together a series of workshops on Unix. We've noticed that a lot of
>> people don't seem to have a good idea of why they should learn Unix,
>> particularly the reference/non technology types. We're going to do some
>> more research to make a fact sheet about the uses of Unix, but I thought
>> I'd pose the question to the list - what do you think are reasons
>> librarians need to know Unix, even if they aren't in particularly tech
>> heavy jobs?
>> 
>> I'd appreciate any input. Have a great week!
>> 
>> Siobhain Rivera
>> Indiana University Bloomington
>> Library Science, Digital Libraries Specialization
>> ASIS&T-SC, Webmaster
>> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Cary Gordon
> The Cherry Hill Company
> http://chillco.com