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why, it's almost like charging to send email (thank you slashdot for the original post)

... learn BSD, and you know UN*X. I like Slack (started with it back in the day), but I have never learned as much as quickly as the first 6 months of running OpenBSD on the desktop and server every day. Not having to run out to an assortment of websites and info pages to find out how things work is one of the underrated features of OpenBSD (every single piece of the system has a man page that is complete, authoritative and up-to-date. None of this "this is a placeholder, see our info page!" or "see this website" crap that's so common in the man pages of Linux distros).

Learning UN*X by means of BSD gives one a more stable foundation, IMO, than starting with Linux, due primarily to the more cohesive, clean and consistent design of the BSD operating system as compared to the relative chaos of the average ephemeral Linux distro. (one of the things I like about Slack is that it's the most BSD-like of the Linux distros.)

that said, anything that forces you to know _why_ and _how_ something works in order to get it installed and running is going to benefit you much more than any wizard, GUI or automated installer that hides what's going on under the hood.

http://darkuncle.net/OpenBSD/OpenBSD_dualboot.txt if you want to try it on a system that's already running Windows ...

I've been running the network at ToorCon for the past several years (configs here), and the first year (before I was really helping out at all) we hung the entire con off a Ricochet 56Kbps wireless modem. :) We've had point-to-point wifi links and gigabit drops from hotels, but the last several years at the San Diego Convention Center, we've been using primarily donated EVDO cards as uplinks - mainly because SDCC wants $10,000 per diem for wired network access, with a stipulation of no NAT (making it useless for a conference LAN). This year we'll be running multiple EVDO uplinks load-balanced with OpenBSD; the goal is to have the speed of a wired uplink with the flexibility of cellular access.

If you happen to be at the con, stop by the NOC and say hi.

I'm a sysadmin (spend most of my time actually doing storage architecture, capacity planning, acceleration and other infrastructure stuff for Internet companies), and the job market is better now than I've ever seen it. I'm not a programmer (or software engineer, if there's a difference) by trade, although I do a fair bit of programming from time to time. My experience has been that those who have the ability to think methodically, take an analytical approach to troubleshooting and generally leverage past experience to new situations will _always_ be able to find work. Combine those skills with the pragmatic approach of a generalist (most sysadmins know how to do a little of everything (see http://darkuncle.net/sysadmin/what_is_a_sysadmin.txt)), and you have a combination of aptitudes, interests and skills that will serve to make you at home in almost any environment.

But mostly ... do what you love to do first, and then worry about employment opportunities. If you're doing what you love, you will always be happy to get up and go to work in the morning, even if you have to scramble to pay the bills sometimes. OTOH, if you choose a career based on employment opportunities or median salary, you will end up hating what you do, because money isn't enough to compensate for a lifetime spent doing something that doesn't interest you (at least, not for hackers, who by and large require intellectual stimulation).

To thine own self be true.

Every time a new worm comes out (bi-monthly, it seems), I keep wondering how much abuse people will take before they 1) decide to stop paying for the privilege of being abused, and 2) realize where the abuse is coming from. I know I'm preaching to the choir on this one, but I blew off some steam with a rant this morning. Enjoy.

http://darkuncle.net/~koala/Vendetta_Part_2.mov