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Linux Jobs on the Rise
Jan Stafford writes "Looking for a job at LinuxWorld and everywhere else? IT recruiting expert Scot Melland says you have more grounds for optimism than in recent years. In this Q&A, he describes where the jobs are and how much they're paying."
My last job was a SCO shop. They were migrating to Red Hat when I left.
My current job is using linux on a lot of lower end servers.
This is a far cry from 2000-2001, when no one would even touch the OS.
Now, it is my desktop, and that of others.
They stuck me in an institution, said it was the only solution, to...protect me from the enemy, myself
I am working at a Microsoft Gold Certified partner business, and I am impressed by how well Microsoft stuff works. I am not realy that much into Linux, but I have played around with it. Microsoft gives Linux a lot of competition on interoperability, although it is only with other Microsoft products.
Security isn't that big of a deal to lock down either, as long as you have a decent firewall configured right.
Its a combination of things... Ill give a list.
/tmp after program crashes)
1: Unexpected program operation
2: Features not documented (ala commandline arguments)
3: Poor settings that are not accessable through GUI (ala mozilla about:config )
4: Bad or lacking help in help file. No exmples are a big concern in many programs
5: Not working due to silly happenings (lock file in
6: Insane setup required or large amount of dependancies on source packages
7: Just plain bad configs for your system (and youre not a programmer) and doesnt compile
You support these (or..ahem, make these) and you get money.
Major vendors (HP, IBM, Dell) have tech support with Linux savvy techies who can speak to a UNIX admin with very little disconnect. The other day I called HP about an issue with a DL380 G3 running RHEL 3 and they knew exactly what I was talking about and could help me out. They even give you the ability to flash your BIOS IN LINUX, as root of course. It does require a reboot to take effect.
I'm a sysadmin, I build and maintain Linux systems for production use. Others where I work use the OS for various purposes, including software development and embedded systems. Some use it as their primary desktop, as I do. The results of the development, made more productive by a solid IT infrastructure foundation, make the money.
I suppose one could turn the question around and ask how one makes money using a non-free operating system, when they're not the one selling/developing it. If anything you would seemingly make less because the OS adds an additional cost, but that doesn't show the big picture. It's the results that really matter, the OS is just a means to the end.
GPL: Free as in will
Where I work we are developing a few different boards that all use embedded linux on an Arm9. I think that Linux may develop to take over that market really well. After all, who needs a full blown Windows installation on an embedded device? And is Windows even capable of running on an MMU-less processor?
The number of job postings on Dice.com that required some type of Linux expertise increased 190% over the past year to over 2,200 positions.
Not to pooh pooh this kind of increase, but it isn't as cool as jobs actually doing Linux development, or other OSS development. That would be even more exciting. Just because a job has need for Linux experience, doesn't mean that you'll actually have time to work on your favorite OSS project as part of your work. It may just mean that the company is using Linux to power some solution that you'll be working with.
On the other hand, I've seen data that does show that more developers are getting paid for OSS work. I would like to see a 190% jump there next year.
CKO
- Sighuh?
it's pretty difficult to make money developing Linux =P
As there is more money to be made overall and more positions to be had in carpentry than there is in designing hammers.
The primary point of tools being their use.
KFG
Linux is getting big here in Markham, Ontario (Home of ATI). A couple years ago IBM built a huge R&D lab right near my house.
My first linux job was at 17 at the local soctiabank doing simple perl scripts. I had a second job at 18 programming software for a handheld device using linux. At 20 I got a job designing a sprinkler system at a local golf course that used a linux system to manage watering, etc...
Basically, there are tons of jobs out there that use linux, and I am grateful for that.
--Using slackware since I was 13 (now 22)
The other issue is the lock-in that the GPL creates. Most corporations prefer the freedom of the BSD-style license.
The BSD license has some things going for it, but if we look at what corporations are backing Linux and what are backing *BSD, it seems that the GPL "lock-in" doesn't bother IBM, Novell, etc.. In fact, it might encourage them since after adding lots of code to Linux, a third party can't just take the code, add a bit to it and then sell it as proprietary software -- they must give back, just like people before them did, and I'd say that's pretty fair.
Treehugger? Treehugger... Treehugger!
How does a pilot make money flying through free air?
Linux jobs could be going through the roof for all I know, but the apparent "research" done for that article is absolute cr@p.
Counting the job postings on Dice? Please. This could be due to nothing more than Dice negotiating some special contracts with a few big companies.
Anybody every notice that big defense contractors, and a few other institutions absolutely flood those job boards lately? Often posting over 100 jobs in a day just for one city.
I live near Aurora Colorado, good sized Ratheon installation there. If the number of jobs posted just on hotjobs is any clue, then Ratheon must be hirering about 150 new people every day. On Dice, it Lockheed that floods the job boards.
I don't know what kind of games they're playing, or what of deals are made; but you'd have to an idiot to think all of those advertised jobs are for real.
Besides that, is Linux a *primary* qualification? Or is just one the many, many, qualifications that are typically thrown in along with everything else but the kitchen sink?
And, most importantly of all, what is the ratio of new positons vs the number of people flooding into the field?
In my opinion, the article is a bit misleading. From my down to earth view (of having contact with literaly hundreds of IT folks) there are more jobs now than there were in the last few years...
The jobs are different though. Most are doing fairly boring things, and salaries are in the $30-40k range. (very few are in the $50k range). There are obviously exceptions (one of my friends makes $85k), but the average is still ~$35k.
Then again, that's better than being unemployed... And there are cently more jobs there now than there were a year or two ago. But they're crappy jobs.
"If anything can go wrong, it will." - Murphy
I recently landed a Linux job. It was very hard to find. 99% of the jobs I looked at were Windows based. I stuck to my convictions and I eventually found the job I was looking for. I chalk it up to luck. There aren't that many Linux jobs in my city. Hopefully that is changing.
In my shop, everyone uses Linux, and most users (and they are not very computer literate at all) don't care that they are not using windows. We have managed to make Linux as user friendly as possible.
We impress the accountants with how cheap we can do things now. LTSP is a beautiful project which can save you time, money and hassle. I strongly suggest that any system administrator take a look at the project.
Why would he wish that certification carries a lot of clout? And who is it that expected it to?
Linux is certainly growing in market share, but it's still mostly in environments with management that values the thinking processes and figuring out the right ways to do things. When Linux finally reaches the level where it gets used by managers that don't value the thinking process, and just pick things because it might look good, or because someone wearing another tie said it was good, then we'll see certification in more demand. And they will get what they deserve, too, just like they got when they wanted an MCSE to run their Windows machines. The more the masses get certification, the less value that certification has. But that seems to be when managers want it most. How silly.
now we need to go OSS in diesel cars
from http://imdb.com/title/tt0093779/quotes: [Vizzini has just cut the rope The Dread Pirate Roberts is climbing up] Vizzini: HE DIDN'T FALL? INCONCEIVABLE. Inigo Montoya: You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.