Linux & Servers
The operating system most servers run, and the commands you'll use on it.
Backend Engineer track
Junior
Write correct code, ship small changes safely, ask good questions.
Core: start here
- Basic Shell Commandsls, cd, cp, mv, rm, cat, less and find.
9 more junior concepts
- Archiving and Compression (tar, gzip, zip)Bundling and compressing files.
- Copying Files Remotely (scp, rsync)Moving files between machines.
- Disk Space (df, du)Finding what's filling up the disk.
- LinuxThe operating system most servers run.
- Linux Directory StructureWhat /etc, /var, /usr, /home and /tmp are for.
- Managing Processes (ps, top, kill)Seeing and controlling running programs.
- OS Package Managers (apt, dnf, brew)Installing system software.
- sudo and rootRunning commands with administrator privileges.
- Virtual MachineA fully emulated computer running on shared hardware.
Mid-level
Own a feature end to end without hand-holding.
- Bare MetalRunning directly on physical servers.
- Disks, Filesystems and MountsAttaching storage and making it usable.
- Hard Link vs Symbolic LinkTwo names for the same file vs a pointer to a path.
- Load AverageA rough measure of how busy a machine is.
- Reading System Logsjournalctl, /var/log, and finding out what went wrong.
- System Monitoring (top, htop, vmstat, iotop)Seeing CPU, memory and disk activity on a machine.
- systemdThe Linux service manager for starting, stopping and logging services.
- Text Processing (sed, awk, cut, sort)Command-line tools for slicing and transforming text.
- tmux / screenKeeping terminal sessions running after you disconnect.
- Users and GroupsHow Linux controls who can do what.
Senior
Own a system, its failure modes, and its trade-offs.
- HypervisorSoftware that runs virtual machines.
- iptables / nftablesLinux's built-in firewall.
- Linux Boot ProcessFirmware, bootloader, kernel, init: how a machine starts.
- LVMFlexible logical volumes on top of physical disks.
- Process Priority (nice)Telling the scheduler which processes matter more.
- SELinux and AppArmorMandatory access control that restricts what processes can do.
- Server HardeningReducing a server's attack surface.
- straceWatching the system calls a process makes.
Staff
Shape how many teams build, across systems.
Nothing here yet.
Principal
Set technical direction for the organization.
- eBPFRunning safe, sandboxed programs inside the Linux kernel for tracing and networking.
Data Engineer track
Junior
Build and fix pipelines from clear specs; write correct SQL.
- Archiving and Compression (tar, gzip, zip)Bundling and compressing files.
- Basic Shell Commandsls, cd, cp, mv, rm, cat, less and find.
- Copying Files Remotely (scp, rsync)Moving files between machines.
- Disk Space (df, du)Finding what's filling up the disk.
- LinuxThe operating system most servers run.
- Linux Directory StructureWhat /etc, /var, /usr, /home and /tmp are for.
- Managing Processes (ps, top, kill)Seeing and controlling running programs.
- OS Package Managers (apt, dnf, brew)Installing system software.
- sudo and rootRunning commands with administrator privileges.
- Virtual MachineA fully emulated computer running on shared hardware.
Mid-level
Own pipelines and models end to end, including their quality.
- Bare MetalRunning directly on physical servers.
- Disks, Filesystems and MountsAttaching storage and making it usable.
- Hard Link vs Symbolic LinkTwo names for the same file vs a pointer to a path.
- Load AverageA rough measure of how busy a machine is.
- Reading System Logsjournalctl, /var/log, and finding out what went wrong.
- System Monitoring (top, htop, vmstat, iotop)Seeing CPU, memory and disk activity on a machine.
- systemdThe Linux service manager for starting, stopping and logging services.
- Text Processing (sed, awk, cut, sort)Command-line tools for slicing and transforming text.
- tmux / screenKeeping terminal sessions running after you disconnect.
- Users and GroupsHow Linux controls who can do what.
Senior
Design the platform's storage, processing and modeling choices.
- HypervisorSoftware that runs virtual machines.
- iptables / nftablesLinux's built-in firewall.
- Linux Boot ProcessFirmware, bootloader, kernel, init: how a machine starts.
- LVMFlexible logical volumes on top of physical disks.
- Process Priority (nice)Telling the scheduler which processes matter more.
- SELinux and AppArmorMandatory access control that restricts what processes can do.
- Server HardeningReducing a server's attack surface.
- straceWatching the system calls a process makes.
Staff
Shape how the whole organization produces and uses data.
Nothing here yet.
Principal
Set data strategy and architecture across the company.
- eBPFRunning safe, sandboxed programs inside the Linux kernel for tracing and networking.
Frontend Engineer track
Junior
Build UI that works, ship small changes safely, ask good questions.
- Archiving and Compression (tar, gzip, zip)Bundling and compressing files.
- Basic Shell Commandsls, cd, cp, mv, rm, cat, less and find.
- LinuxThe operating system most servers run.
- OS Package Managers (apt, dnf, brew)Installing system software.
- sudo and rootRunning commands with administrator privileges.
- Virtual MachineA fully emulated computer running on shared hardware.
Mid-level
Own a feature end to end without hand-holding.
- Text Processing (sed, awk, cut, sort)Command-line tools for slicing and transforming text.
Senior
Own an app's architecture, performance, and failure modes.
Nothing here yet.
Staff
Shape how many teams build, across apps.
Nothing here yet.
Principal
Set technical direction for the organization.
Nothing here yet.