Linux...?

[tsc128]

Got a question: I'm a mechanical engineering major, and do VB, Access, Lotus Notes and other computer related stuff at work, so I'm not really that great at it, but I do see the value in learning how to use and develop programs for any field of work. So my question is: Is Linux really worth learning as a non-compsci major? What can I do with linux as an engineer that I can't do in Windows.

Thanx for any input...

[Mih_Flyer]

ok i think is linux worth learning, coz many many people are moving to it, and there are no much programmers and .. for it, and now i'm downloading the linux system, and i think i will learn c++ for linux, i really think it's cool

[sg_oneill]

You really need to ask your self how much time
you have on your hands. If you want to learn
programming, and learn it well, I realy suggest
taking the time. There are *lots* of programmers
for Linux, so there are some good resources available.
Some developments to look out for;
Kylix: Borland Delphi for Linux. Delphi is basically
Visual basic on steroids. It leaves it in it's dust.
Caveat though is that it is basically Visual Object Pascal,
so while it's a fantastic language, it is a little different to Basic. But it's much easier than C++ and
just as powerfull.
WINE project: The Wine project has ported many of the
Win16 & Win32 API's to Linux, and the WINE software can
run a reasonable number of Windows Programs.

There is also the fantastic GNU compiler set. Free pascal
an asortment of RAD tools, Fortran, Cobol, C,C++ Modula
Forth, Smalltalk, Basic. You name it, it's there. I also
believe that there is a kit that will run VB stuff on
Linux.

Check it out.