How To Learn Linux From the Developers of Linux. (For Free.)

The Linux community is a pyramid. The base is comprised of millions of Linux users and system administrators. The second level is programmers who work with Linux; some of those developers contribute to the kernel, many do not. The top rung of the pyramid is the thousand or so kernel developers and maintainers who actively contribute to the kernel or other projects that make up a distribution. These are the leaders whose code and ideas shape the system that users and sys admins work with everyday.

One of the goals of the Linux Foundation is to make those people on the top rung accessible to the base. You see it with many of our programs: LinuxCon, Linux.com, the Japan Linux Symposium and our training program. Today we are pleased to announce an expansion of that program and the launch of a free webinar program that connects Linux users, developers and sys admins to the leaders of the Linux community. Users can now receive free Linux training on such topics as the new Linux filesystem Btrfs, Git or Linux performance tuning.

While these developers are always accessible via the kernel mailing list, this format gives a different kind of access and learning opportunity. Let’s face it: not all users and developers can attend in- person events or pay for a training course.

The free Linux training webinar series features notable technical leaders from the Linux community. Confirmed webinars include:

• “An Introduction to Git,” by kernel maintainer and TAB chair James Bottomley;

• “Linux System Troubleshooting and Tuning” and “Linux Administration 101,” by Linux author and community manager Joe “Zonker” Brockmeier;

• “How to Work with the Linux community,” by LWN.net editor and kernel developer Jon Corbet;

• “A Linux Filesystem Overview,” by kernel developer Christoph Hellwig;• “Btrfs: An Intro and Update” to the new file system for Linux, by project lead and TAB member Chris Mason; and

• “Linux Performance Tuning,” by North America’s first kernel developer Ted Ts’o.

You can sign up here. We are lucky that these leaders are taking time out of their busy schedules to do this.I’m also happy to announce we have expanded our training offering with new classes and new geographies served. Our training program is exploding right now, just like the demand for Linux talent. (Obviously not a coincidence!) We hope you take advantage of this new program. Please send me feedback on topics or instructors you’d be interested in hearing from. You can reach me at amanda at the domain above.