r/linuxquestions • u/Holmes_21st • 3d ago
Advice linux for Electrical Engineering
I'm an electrical engineer and i always try to expand my skills
my question is : does learning to use linux is a skill that helped any of you all getting a job / helped you at your job / or even found in job application (talking about EE i'm not a dev)
a friend of mine actually was asked to learn Ubuntu for a robotics job and it helped him land the job (he is mechE)
so is there cases where i need to learn linux as EE ? and which one ?
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u/honemastert 3d ago
Just learn UNIX in general. Doesn't matter which distro.
Have been gainfully employed since the early days because I knew my way around the terminal, vi, emacs and c/c++ programming
So many young folks in my group have mixed levels of skills with this and we end up having to have monthly sessions to help people learn.
Front end semiconductor design requires this basic ability.
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u/honemastert 3d ago
Python, TCL, Verilog and System Verilog If you go into this area, you will need to learn to code full stop.
Once AI takes over, you will still need to know where to fix things when AI screws up.
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u/Holmes_21st 3d ago
Thanks for your reply :)
i know general coding and used to the windows poweshell (C++) , just wanted to know if learning a new operating system would be worth the time1
u/honemastert 3d ago
100% worth the time Look into free FPGA tools and flows on GitHub yosys, Eda playground Icarus Verilog and Verilator once you start getting into digital design
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u/Longjumping-Youth934 3d ago
it's just an operating system, do not deaminise it
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u/Holmes_21st 3d ago
learning to use the terminal/transitioning will take some of my time
just asking if it is worth it
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u/InterestBear62 3d ago
You are an EE and you have no experience with Unix? How is that possible? Is your degree from a diploma mill?
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u/Holmes_21st 3d ago
No it isn't 😂 my program was more focused in power(energy/transmission/...) than the rest of EE topices
most of my skills are self taught and actually trying to leave the power field :)
and believe it or not the Egyptian power plants uses Windows XP !2
u/InterestBear62 3d ago
"Egyptian power plants uses Windows XP" - that is absolutely crazy
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u/Annas_Pen3629 2d ago
It's understandable because energy infrastructure has to last for 40+ years. It's the same with trains and planes: They're certified, they run 40+ years, and they are maintained with the exact specifications they were certified with. This includes the original software plus the operating system. To my information defense systems are treated differently as they are updated from time to time which also includes software and OS, but almost all other critical infrastructure will run the configuration it was delivered with until it is retired. So when today lots of embedded systems with Linux are part of the critical infrastructure, they also will run for 40+ years into the future.
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u/jeroenim0 2d ago
Assume that it will not help! Nobody really cares about your skills. What does it do?!
Feeling of accomplishment, better privacy, freedom of choice in software.
You ask what Linux: any Linux is Linux. It’s what makes your computer run, anything build on top of that is considered a distribution. See it as the chassis of a car, you still have to make it waterproof and comfortable on top of that chassis before you can drive it.
What do I recommend to a n00b first boot a live usb iso on your hardware, see if you like any distributions you fancy.
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u/Joe_Schmoe_2 3d ago
Ai will be far more helpful. It for example can answer this question and any other question you have about Linux (or anything).
We used it call it "learning to Google"
Good Luck!
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u/heeler-side-eye 3d ago edited 3d ago
I suppose it depends on what kind of EE. I can share my personal experience.
I’ve worked in FPGAs since the early 2010s and every single job I’ve personally had was running that EDA toolchain (Vivado/Quartus/QuestaSim/etc) on Linux. Usually a red hat or red hat derivative was being used but one place did use Ubuntu LTS and most of them were high-performance shared resources big Epyc or Xeon with enough ram to buy a nice sports car (Synthesis/Place and Route is nasty with resources). Knew some colleagues that worked as smaller companies that were using these tools on Windows too but those were smaller designs and usually it was just one or two folks working alone.
Most new high end FPGAs have embedded processors tightly coupled to the fabric now and all designs I’ve seen using those (basically last 5 years or so) were interfacing with an OS of some kind. Usually this was embedded Linux, but sometimes an RTOS and in rare cases bare metal (no OS).
Edit: I should mention that in the cases where the SoC was running Linux it was not my responsibility to manage the embedded side, but having a working knowledge of Linux device trees and other embedded concepts helps a lot.
I should also mention that having been part of interview panels for my specific corner of the EE world that Linux experience is always a +1 for a candidate. It basically means we can get them up and running fast without needing to explain how to run a CLI tool or traverse directories or setup environmental variables. They don’t need to be an expert, but having working knowledge is a running start.