Unix

[theun]

I need to learn UNIX as a course and I just want to know how easy is it for someone who is relatively new to programming and operating systems in learning this thing?
Like is it generally easy to understand how to pick it up or is it somewhat complicated?

[vesseblah]

Depends on what's taught on the course. It can be anything from easy to ridiculously hard.

[Cilraaz]

I agree with vesseblah. It can range anywhere in difficulty. If you have access to a "spare" computer or have enough parts to build a spare, I would suggest loading linux on it (linux is very similar to UNIX at command line, but most distros are free). The distro doesn't matter. The Ubuntu family is popular as a workstation OS, while other distros like Debian and Red Hat tend to lend themselves more toward the server side of things.

[Nas101]

I agree with vesseblah. It can range anywhere in difficulty. If you have access to a "spare" computer or have enough parts to build a spare, I would suggest loading linux on it (linux is very similar to UNIX at command line, but most distros are free). The distro doesn't matter. The Ubuntu family is popular as a workstation OS, while other distros like Debian and Red Hat tend to lend themselves more toward the server side of things.

To add on what Cilraaz said, even if you don't have a "spare" computer, most distros can be run on a UBS thumb drive ect. I would start with Ubuntu ( or whatever your class is using ) and learn by trial and error, try to get as much background in the OS before going into the class.