I would recommend learning Linux because it is the key platform for open
source software in general, and librarians need to embrace open source in
order to take control over their library systems, in order to deliver to
their users what they actually need, rather than what can be delivered
within the constraints of a system dominated by commercial vendors.

Many years ago I used to work in Windows and wrote software which
integrated closely with various Microsoft products, including the Windows
OS itself. While Windows has some nice features, over time a powerful sense
of frustration built up which ultimately led me to consciously spurn
Windows in favour of Linux. I still have a Windows VM which I use to run
the eTax software from the Australian Tax Office, once a year.

The frustration I felt was because the proprietary nature of the Microsoft
ecosystem was toxic to good software design. It's not that Microsoft can't
afford good software engineers - far from it! The computer scientists
working for Microsoft Research are some of the best and brightest. The
problem is that Microsoft's business model imposes constraints on their
software (and hence on the people who administer and use that software)
which are not in the interest of those users. Microsoft's business model
relies on locking users into their ecosystem; they engineer their products
to have unnecessary interdependencies, and to have proprietary interfaces
only conveniently usable from other MS products. Third-party products built
with Microsoft tools and infrastructure also tend to be dragged down by
this same quality deficit.

What administrators and users really need is software which they can deploy
freely (I mean, with flexibility and creativity), unconstrained by the
arbitrary decisions made by the business managers of software vendors.

Of course it is possible to run and develop open source applications on
proprietary OSes, but you are always swimming against the tide.








On 28 October 2014 00:02, 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
>