Know-how for busy engineers
Courses and workshops for engineering teams of one to ten who have little time to level up.
Learning made easy
“The pace and rhythm of the course was good, it was always easy to keep up and there was enough time to understand the given lesson.”
Enno Welbers
Palasthotel
Expert instructor
“Jochen's Varnish expertise enables us to build websites that delight our customers with not only their design and functionality but also outstanding speed and reliability.”
Duncan Davidson
Rohallion
Learning doesn't have to be tedious. Of course, you can learn a programming language, or using a web framework, or setting up infrastructure services by yourself.
We all can. If I had all the time in the world, I'd study all the things! The problem is, I don't have all the time in the world. And neither do you.
There's a better way to learn a new skill than...
- 🤨 watching videos on YouTube, desperately on the hunt for someone who can explain the topic comprehensively and in an understandable way,
- 😩 copying code from websites that doesn't work because it's outdated (or hallucinated by an LLM), and
- 🥺 ending up on Stack Overflow or some Discord server begging for help.
Yes, books can be a valuable learning resource. They're usually written by authors who have expertise on the topic, and edited by people who know how to effectively transfer that expertise. However, you can't expect most authors to be available for the questions that arise when you start putting your new learnings into practice. And since the publishing process makes it challenging to keep up with the pace of development in the DevOps space, you'll still have to rely on auxiliary material to make sure you're up-to-date.
This kind of learning is only free if your time doesn't have any value.
There's a better way. Until we have direct download to our brains, well-guided workshops are your best option.
Having an experienced instructor who is not only a subject-matter expert but also a skilled and empathic teacher is the quickest and most effective way to learn new skills.
I've been a software developer since 1984, and a Linux/Unix sysadmin since 1993. I've also been teaching those subjects for decades. My career as an IT instructor started as a SuSE Certified Linux Trainer, teaching at training centres and client locations. Later, I went on to design and deliver my own courses. For a Perl programming course I gave for several years both in-person and online, I even published a comprehensive 200-page book.
I design my courses and workshops with individual participants and small teams in mind, engineers who expect to see an instant return on investment of their time.
My courses are cohort-based, with a clear timeframe and a limited number of participants. Every course comes with hand-crafted materials. During a cohort, we meet regularly on video calls to discuss issues and do supplementary exercises. In addition to these tutoring sessions, course participants can exchange questions and answers at any time with a growing number of skilled DevOps practitioners on my community platform.
My goal is to enable you to apply your new skills within a minimum of time. More importantly, I want you to feel good doing it.
Imagine tackling your next work challenge or job application with full confidence that you're going to be up to the task!
"Finished ought to be an f-word for all of us. We are all works in progress. Each day presents an opportunity to learn more, do more, be more, and grow more."
Choose your learning path
Join 400+ successful learners in my courses!
I run my courses as part of a membership in The Server Room, my DevOps community of practice. Among many other perks, the membership fee includes access to all my course materials and, depending on membership levels, also to my cohort-based, instructor-led courses.
I'm making my courses affordable because my whole career is built on the generosity of the open-source software community, and I want to pay it forward.
Click any title to check out a course's syllabus, view the course materials, and get the details on how to take part in the next cohort!
Basic Linux System Administration (LINSYS-1)
Learn how to run the operating system of the internet. Ideal for beginners and junior engineers.
Varnish Administration (WEBOPS-1)
Master the setup and operation of the Varnish caching proxy.
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