Linux in Every Chapter: Jeferson Salles’s Journey
Since I was a boy, I have been passionate about technology. I wanted to understand how computers worked, how systems talked to each other, and what existed behind every screen. I did not yet know all the paths technology could open, but I was already building a dream: to turn that curiosity into a profession, and make it part of my life.
Over the years, that dream took shape through study, practice, and many hours spent understanding operating systems, networks, servers, and applications. It was along this path that I discovered Linux and open source software. More than tools, they showed me a different way of thinking about technology: one based on freedom, collaboration, transparency, continuous learning, and sharing what you know.
A Career With One Constant: Linux
My career was not built around a single technology or a single job title. I have worked as a systems administrator, a senior infrastructure analyst, a DevOps engineer, and an infrastructure architect. Each role brought new responsibilities, but Linux remained the common foundation behind almost everything I did.
I have worked in complex environments for major organisations: oil and gas exploration and production, electric power, banking, and information technology. I contributed to large state owned companies, multinational energy corporations, a major state owned bank, and global IT service providers.
In places like these, highly professional skills such as availability, security, performance, and operational discipline are not optional. A single technical decision can affect thousands of users, essential business processes, or services that must stay available around the clock. That is where I learned, in practice, what it really means to build infrastructure that is resilient and sustainable.
Open Source as a Foundation, Not a Discount
Open source has never been just a cheaper alternative to me. It has always been a strategic foundation. Linux, Ansible, Kubernetes, Zabbix, Grafana, Nginx, Apache, Git, and other open technologies have helped me automate work, standardise environments, investigate incidents, improve observability, and make services more reliable.
As infrastructure evolved, my career evolved with it. Traditional server administration grew into virtualizsation, cloud computing, infrastructure as code, containers, orchestration, continuous integration and delivery, GitOps, observability, and DevSecOps.
For me, DevOps is not simply a set of tools. It is a way to lower the barriers between teams, create processes you can repeat, make changes more safely, and share responsibility for keeping services reliable.
Where LPI Came In
Experience taught me a great deal, but certifications helped me organize that knowledge and find the gaps. This is how the Linux Professional Institute became an important part of my journey.
I completed the entire LPIC professional path currently offered by LPI: LPIC-1, LPIC-2, LPIC-3 Mixed Environments, LPIC-3 Security, LPIC-3 Virtualizsation and Containerisation, and LPIC-3 High Availability and Storage Clusters.
Each level was a stage of growth. LPIC-1 reinforced the fundamentals. LPIC-2 deepened my understanding of advanced administration and networking. The LPIC-3 specializations pushed me to connect enterprise Linux with mixed environments, security, virtualizsation, containers, clusters, high availability, and storage.
Completing the full path was not about collecting certificates. It was about persistence and a commitment to vendor neutral knowledge. Technologies change, products get replaced, and interfaces evolve, but strong fundamentals keep supporting every new layer of infrastructure.
Learning That Does Not Clock OutMy lea
rning does not stop when the workday ends. I keep a homelab where I test Linux servers, virtualization, containers, Kubernetes, automation, monitoring, reverse proxies, and identity services. This environment lets me make mistakes safely, compare approaches, document procedures, and reproduce situations close to what I see in production.
I also try to share what I learn. I help colleagues solve problems, explain Linux concepts, review architectures, prepare technical documentation, and encourage others to pursue certification. Knowledge becomes more valuable when it circulates.
Open source has an important social side for me too. It can support digital inclusion and creates opportunities by giving people not just access to software, but the ability to study it, modify it, and build with it,. My own journey shows how Linux knowledge can open doors across very different industries.
The Dream Is Not Over Yet!
Even after more than twenty years in technology, with the full LPIC path behind me, I do not consider this journey over. There is always another architecture to understand, another incident to learn from, another technology to test, and another person who might benefit from shared knowledge.
My goal is to keep going deeper in Linux, automation, cloud, containers, security, reliability, and open infrastructure, while contributing more actively to technical communities and educational initiatives.
Open source has given me far more than tools. It has given me a professional identity, a way of learning, and a community-minded view of technology. Looking back, Linux was present in every major stage of my career. Looking ahead, I am certain it will be part of every new chapter of this dream.
