Linux Engineer Interview Questions

671 linux engineer interview questions shared by candidates

Describe a skill or knowledge you acquired recently that has had meaningful impact for you. Why did you make this investment? What has the outcome been? What new skill would you like to learn? Why do you think this is important or timely or interesting? Why do you think you will be good at it? What kinds of software projects have you worked on before? Which operating systems, development environments, languages, databases? That is not a checklist, just some suggestions of what to describe you have worked with. Would you describe yourself as a high quality coder? Why? Outline your thoughts on open source software development. What is important to get right in open source projects? What open source projects have you worked on? Have you been an open source maintainer, on which projects, and what was your role? How comprehensive would you say your knowledge of a Linux distribution is, from the kernel up? How familiar are you with low-level system architecture, runtimes and Linux distro packaging? How have you gained this knowledge? Describe any experience you have with low-level embedded systems engineering, on Linux or other embedded operating systems Please describe any experience you have working in operating system kernel internal components, Linux or other. This can be device drivers, scheduler, network stack, etc, as long as it would be considered part of the core kernel. How extensive is your experience with C? What type of software components have you used it in? What about C++? Why would you use one over the other? How extensive is your experience of Python software engineering? How do you test Python applications? Outline the applications that you have led in Python, and your takeaways from that experience. Do you have experience with Rust? If so describe you proficiency in the language. Have you ever worked directly with ACPI, BIOS, EFI, and/or Devicetree? Can you elaborate?
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Junior Linux Engineer

Interviewed at Canonical

3.2
Jul 15, 2024

Describe a skill or knowledge you acquired recently that has had meaningful impact for you. Why did you make this investment? What has the outcome been? What new skill would you like to learn? Why do you think this is important or timely or interesting? Why do you think you will be good at it? What kinds of software projects have you worked on before? Which operating systems, development environments, languages, databases? That is not a checklist, just some suggestions of what to describe you have worked with. Would you describe yourself as a high quality coder? Why? Outline your thoughts on open source software development. What is important to get right in open source projects? What open source projects have you worked on? Have you been an open source maintainer, on which projects, and what was your role? How comprehensive would you say your knowledge of a Linux distribution is, from the kernel up? How familiar are you with low-level system architecture, runtimes and Linux distro packaging? How have you gained this knowledge? Describe any experience you have with low-level embedded systems engineering, on Linux or other embedded operating systems Please describe any experience you have working in operating system kernel internal components, Linux or other. This can be device drivers, scheduler, network stack, etc, as long as it would be considered part of the core kernel. How extensive is your experience with C? What type of software components have you used it in? What about C++? Why would you use one over the other? How extensive is your experience of Python software engineering? How do you test Python applications? Outline the applications that you have led in Python, and your takeaways from that experience. Do you have experience with Rust? If so describe you proficiency in the language. Have you ever worked directly with ACPI, BIOS, EFI, and/or Devicetree? Can you elaborate?

Engineering experience What kinds of software projects have you worked on before? Which operating systems, development environments, languages, databases? Would you describe yourself as a strong coder? Why? Would you describe yourself as a strong architect? If so, why, and in which sorts of applications? Outline your thoughts on open source software development. What is important to get right in open source projects? What open source projects have you contributed to? Have you been an open source maintainer? On which projects, and what was your role? Education How did you fare in high school mathematics, physical sciences and computing? Which were strengths and which were most enjoyable? How did you rank, competitively, in them? Which degree and university did you choose, and why? Which university courses did you perform best at? How did you rank in your degree? What did you achieve in high school or university that you consider exceptional? Context How comprehensive would you say your knowledge of a Linux distribution is, from the kernel up? How familiar are you with low-level system architecture, runtimes and Linux distro packaging? How have you gained this knowledge? Outline your thoughts on quality in software development. What practices are most effective to drive improvements in quality? Describe your experience of continuous integration and testing. What tools and processes do you think are relevant to Ubuntu quality? Outline your thoughts on the mission of Canonical. What is it about the company's purpose and goals which is most appealing to you? What is risky or unappealing? Who are Canonical's key competitors, and how should Canonical set about winning? Why do you most want to work for Canonical? What would you most want to change about Canonical?
Feb 28, 2023

Engineering experience What kinds of software projects have you worked on before? Which operating systems, development environments, languages, databases? Would you describe yourself as a strong coder? Why? Would you describe yourself as a strong architect? If so, why, and in which sorts of applications? Outline your thoughts on open source software development. What is important to get right in open source projects? What open source projects have you contributed to? Have you been an open source maintainer? On which projects, and what was your role? Education How did you fare in high school mathematics, physical sciences and computing? Which were strengths and which were most enjoyable? How did you rank, competitively, in them? Which degree and university did you choose, and why? Which university courses did you perform best at? How did you rank in your degree? What did you achieve in high school or university that you consider exceptional? Context How comprehensive would you say your knowledge of a Linux distribution is, from the kernel up? How familiar are you with low-level system architecture, runtimes and Linux distro packaging? How have you gained this knowledge? Outline your thoughts on quality in software development. What practices are most effective to drive improvements in quality? Describe your experience of continuous integration and testing. What tools and processes do you think are relevant to Ubuntu quality? Outline your thoughts on the mission of Canonical. What is it about the company's purpose and goals which is most appealing to you? What is risky or unappealing? Who are Canonical's key competitors, and how should Canonical set about winning? Why do you most want to work for Canonical? What would you most want to change about Canonical?

Describe the linux boot process What's the difference between UDP and TCP Can either multicast? explain How do you allocate memory on the heap in C? How do you redirect standard error output to standard output in bash?
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Software Engineer Senior - Linux Engineering

Interviewed at Canonical

3.2
Jun 2, 2022

Describe the linux boot process What's the difference between UDP and TCP Can either multicast? explain How do you allocate memory on the heap in C? How do you redirect standard error output to standard output in bash?

If a user had an issue with logging into a linux machine how would you go about troubleshooting the issue? If you had someone not able to see or use a specific file what troubleshooting steps would you take to find the issue? Provide some examples of how you can manage PCI and other compliance checks in vulnerability management for an image?
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Senior Linux Engineer

Interviewed at AAA Mountain West Group (MWG)

3.7
Feb 10, 2023

If a user had an issue with logging into a linux machine how would you go about troubleshooting the issue? If you had someone not able to see or use a specific file what troubleshooting steps would you take to find the issue? Provide some examples of how you can manage PCI and other compliance checks in vulnerability management for an image?

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