The biggest problem is that the definition of "geek" has been widely expanded. What people consider as a geek is not what it used to be. There are many internet/it/technology pundits calling themselves geeks out there that might otherwise be written off as kooks with a soapbox if it weren't for the internet or TV.
As for the anti-college kick, I think some people are missing the point. Its not so much that college is useless, its that the ROI for some folks isn't worth while to attend. On one end of the spectrum, you might be better off going to a technical/trade school instead of spending a ton of money on a degree that may not land you a job paying all that much better. On the other end of the spectrum, you might be better off skipping an expensive education because you've already gained skills enough to learn and grow on your own. The folks in the middle are still probably better off going to college because of lack of skills or because specific jobs require large amounts of training (ie, a doctor).
People who end up in the innovation industry (computer or otherwise) usually learned what they did by dyi trial and error or early on the job experience. Just taking a look around my own office, the people I look up to and respect are also the ones that either didn't go to college, or didn't go to college for what they are doing now. The people who don't can't be left alone and expected to get stuff done without a script are usually the ones who went to school for the specialty they work in now.
Years ago my previous employer had equipment in two different datacenters in the building. Its more than real estate, or a massive datacenter. Its a very dense internet peering hub with datacenters and office space. I can definitely see this move as strategic, as it puts Google in the "middle" of all the different players.
There are definitely folks out there who can afford to buy a hybrid without concern of gas savings, but most people are going to buy a vehicle that is within their financial means so the upfront cost has to face the reality of cost of ownership. I was one of those people who put enough miles on their car to warrant a hybrid. I did the math and it was cheaper to buy a brand new Prius than continue driving my paid off SUV, due to ongoing maintenance and fuel costs. Several years later, I opted to trade the Prius in for a "clean diesel" that delivers nearly the same MPG but with more comfort and space than the Prius offered. It costs me a bit more overall but due to my changing needs and cramped legroom I think its worth it. Environmentally speaking, I like having a vehicle that pollutes less, but I can't afford not to drive something as fuel efficient which is ultimately why I bought one.
A G5 isn't that old and is still pretty powerful. It still has a lot of life left in it. If you can't figure out what to do with a high end workstation from 1 or 2 processor generations ago then you're best bet is to sell it to somebody who does.
If you're not going to sell it, put a more recent version of Mac OS X Server on it that supports the G5 CPU and put it to use for whatever you need it to do.
The average person probably doesn't know much about one gun from another. I don't fault them for not knowing the make and model. It doesn't look like an assault rifle to me though, it looks more like a high powered long range sniper rifle. Not the sort of thing you bring in to shoot up the office.
I like the comment from the cop though.. be more discreet. Yeah, next time make sure you hide it under your trench coat.:)
"We received one package, opened it and realized that it was an error since no one in our office had ordered them," she said. "The next day we received another package. At this point we realized that they needed to be turned over to law enforcement."
So you receive something you know you didnt order, and instead of refusing shipment you call the cops? What?
The article also makes it seem like the shipments came from HP, not from somebody who had some sinister intent. It sounds like someone was ordering a bunch of stuff to cover tracks or maybe it was from Ben Bernanke's credit card. LOL
Seems to be an RMS religious rant to me. SAP is a for profit company. They write proprietary software. They have interests to protect. I can fully understand why they don't want the government coming along and forcing their applications to either become open source or allow open source clones of their proprietary application. It is also reasonable that SAP likes Linux, open source development tools, and consortium's that produce open source software that extend and interact with their proprietary software. Presumably this allows them access to additional market share, cheaper development costs, etc. There is no friend or foe. Get over it.
You can make the "cloud" resilient, redundant, and highly available. They obviously did not. If the cloud is extended to two places then you don't need servers (virtual or otherwise) in two places.
1) Don't leave them turned on, especially not in the original system. If the system gets hit by lightning/surge/etc you don't want it to take your backup with it.
2) Rotate your backups. Assuming you have more than one removable media, swap them out in a rotating fashion.. That gives you multiple restore points in case you have one of the backup media volumes go bad.
3) If you use an internal drive dock, get one that encloses the drive so it has basic physical protection from handling. Store them in the plastic (usually antistatic) bag they came in somewhere away from the main system.
4) Instead of using an internal dock with multiple internal drives that all need their own dock sled, consider an external USB/Firewire/eSATA drive instead. You can even get ethernet based drives too, so they can be used on your home network. You can buy an external drive enclosure for pretty cheap and use the same internal drives saving a bit of money, making it about the same cost as using an internal drive docking solution with the bonus that you can then access your backup from ANY system, not just the one that has the dock.
If the Downward Spiral is too objectionable for the iPhone App Store, how come they still have no problem selling the Downward Spiral on the iTunes Music Store, so you can listen to said album on your iPhone? That makes no sense to me whatsoever.
Apple makes some great products but every once and a while they make some ass backwards decision that just can't be described.
Eh, people already get to watch those shows for free... Advertisers foot the bill when its on broadcast TV. Why should web viewing be any different? For now I'll just stick to Tivo and watch what I want when I want, assuming I get whatever channel it gets broadcast on. No worrying about all the crap that you have to go through to watch on Hulu or when ABC decides I should watch the show.
Yet another moron in business that thinks their shit doesn't stink and people have no idea that there is a real difference between a Mac and a PC. Sure a lot of components are the same now, since they are both on Intel but I have and will continue to happily pay more for a system that I don't have to worry about getting whatever the latest virus is, doesn't routinely crash, is well designed, well integrated computer. It does what I want it to do and more! And truth be told, you can NOT find a comparable PC for $500 less. It might be cheaper, but its not significantly cheaper when comparing apples to... well.. Apples.
I don't think you are missing anything. Anybody who cancels in "protest" is just having a hissy fit.
Say what you want about Blockbuster, but they are still giving you over and above what Netflix offers since you can still return the movies and get one back immediately from the store. The original article submitter is a jack-ass.
Given my own experience, a bunch of Word docs in some central repository is not ideal from a user prospective. Having all your documentation on a Wiki is a lot easier to read and update when necessary. Its like having a giant documentation flow chart that lets you link "real time". Sub-procedures being called in one document are just a click away instead of having to go pull document # such and such.
The ONLY downside to doing it this way is having hard copies for "DR" purposes, though a replicated server works as long as you can get network access. When you start printing documentation out, people stop looking for updates!
There is only one iPhone, but App developers haven't stopped producing. I like the G1 better than the iPhone since it includes a slide-out keyboard and still packs in all the other features of an iPhone. Once the G1 has been around for longer and Android gets more market share I expect the Android Market to go head to head with the App Store.
In your particular situation it probably was a shady deal... but ultimately its the company that looks bad when they send out someone who's wearing a hat that's too big for their head. It is in their best interest to fix that situation and get the right person in to deliver. I'm not sure where I read this but it was a good quote... "1st rate managers hire 1st class workers. 2nd rate managers hire 3rd rate workers."
Now... IT is a huge multilegged beast. Some types of jobs are dominated by foreign workers while others you rarely see them filled. Generally speaking I've noticed in the last few places I've worked (in three different metro areas) that usually DBA's and programmers are predominately the ones on H1B visas while most of the other types of IT jobs are staffed by "locals". Helpdesk and call center type jobs are the ones getting outsourced overseas, as well as some contract programming staff. The programming jobs are going overseas less because a lot of companies realized that paying by the amount of code written wasn't in their best interest. A lot of the overseas outsourced used to go to India but has started to go to Malaysia and other places too.
Contract outfits that are just filling seats are also notoriously shady. Not just with H1B visas but also with shafting anybody. They tend to hire people for relatively low wages so they can take a huge markup.. Some won't deal with H1B's but still lowball people until they find some sucker who doesn't know their worth or is desperate because they are out of work. The people that get hired are usually subpar, but they don't care because they can always dump them and replace them with someone else so they can keep bringing in huge markups.
Consulting firms (like who I work for now) and specialized application or function outsourcing aka Managed Services firms (like who I used to work for) tend to be the most likely to hire the best person they can with the most experience. Their reputation is all they have so quality over quantity rules. You still see offshore and H1B visa employees at these types of places but not to the extent you see in others.
Where do you get your numbers for "massive unemployment"? Recent economic downturn notwithstanding we have far less unemployment here in the US than many other countries that severely restrict non-citizen workers. The only time I hear of people being unemployed in IT for long periods of time is out in California. Given the people I've met from California its a different beast out there altogether and suspect that people are either not looking hard enough or not looking far enough away... jobs are (usually) available during good periods if you are willing to relocate or adjust your pay expectations.
Short answer, they don't. They lied on their resume, hence why the position came back open again after the company figured it out. Hopefully they learned their lesson.
I'm not saying it doesn't happen... but not all H1B visa hires are shady. Think about it this way... If someone can come in from India or elsewhere with little direct experience, get trained up via the same manufacturer training you'd go to, maybe 30+ years of experience isn't worth as much salary as you think it should. Experience alone doesn't entitle you to more money. Please don't take this the wrong way.. I'm not saying your experience doesn't count for anything. I'm just trying to point out that its about supply and demand. It is something I face as well, but I don't take it personally. The guy from India is just trying to take make a living like I am.
I don't want H1B visas to be given out like candy either but it is better to get foreigners in who can add to our collective brain trust (and economy) than to let companies ship the whole process overseas like what has happened to much of our manufacturing. We have to compete in a global economy, but I'd much rather compete with someone on my own soil that's willing to work for 1/3rd less salary than someone half way around the world for 3/4ers less.
Ridiculous executive salaries aside, companies will try to get the best talent they can for their money. If they are willing to sacrifice quality for significant cost savings they probably aren't a place you'd want to work for to begin with. Penny wise and pound foolish as they say. It is hard to see it that way when you are out of a job looking for anything you can get.. which I do believe if you have people on unemployment in a certain field that should negate H1B visas from being issued for that field. For example, right now we obviously have a large amount of unemployment.. There shouldn't be any H1B visas issued. That much I think we could probably agree on.
I think its debatable about H1B visas being too easy. I do think there is a genuine shortage of smart capable people with the right background to fill a lot of positions out there.
Part of that though may be because of a lot of employers don't want to spend the money on training, either because of the cost or the fear that the person will up and move on to somewhere else because now they have said training. Another problem is that a lot of kids coming out of school are still idiots who don't understand the basics of computers and troubleshooting. That is something that needs to be fixed if they want to be able to compete and demand a higher salary than someone coming over with an H1B visa. I think the US has lost its way in education from Kindergarten up. There are many things to fix first if you want to cut back on H1B visas.
H1B Visas are pretty common in IT. I don't know that I've ever been directly hit by this myself, but I have been lowballed before so low that it wouldn't surprise me that they were trying to get someone in on a work visa. During my last hunt for a job I interviewed at two different places and knowing what I was already making they still offered $20k less.
I have also seen a shift in recent years as two different dynamics happen. First off, a lot of places that have gone down the H1B visa route in the past have figured out it isn't worth the savings because of the legal hassle combined with the fact that they can only get junior level people who've padded their resumes at the lower end of the salary spectrum. Which is the case no matter what your immigration status is. The other part of that is that the folks who really do know what they are doing are getting higher salaries, so more and more often the companies are really only filling roles with H1B workers where companies can't find qualified locals.
The way I look at the whole situation is that there will always be companies willing to sacrifice quality for cost. They don't see the higher productivity and a better solutions that a qualified senior level person can bring to the table. All they see is "we have X dollars to fill this role". IT isn't just a cost center, it can also be a value add if you have the right people.
I can't speak on behalf of my employer but from my own experience I can say that the pay is not the issue. For one thing, the pay isn't advertised up front. That's something that gets negotiated after you interview, which seems to be standard practice. I certainly have no complaints about my salary, especially when you add in bonuses, benefits, training, social functions etc that they pay for. Judging from the amount of luxury cars in the parking lot I'd say I'm not the only one who is getting paid a decent salary.
I'm not sure what you're getting at, but both were US citizens as far as I know.
The reason why I brought it up here on Slashdot was not to bitch and complain. (Or get into a pissing contest with a Linux salesman.) I brought it up because my entire team had been talking about how surprised we all were that we weren't getting in resumes like we expected given all the details you've pointed out.
Funny how you claim to know so much about my organization and repeatedly make broad inflammatory claims. You have no idea who I work for or what the company's business model is.
What I can tell is you is I am not a Solaris bigot and won't get into a pissing contest about which OS is better. It just happens to be the predominant OS at every company I've worked for in the last 10 years. For the high end, Linux doesn't have much if any market share though from what I've seen.
Its kind of like arguing about which is the best car... a BMW, a Land Rover, or a Prius. Context matters. Each has its strengths for certain tasks.
Two words of advice for you..
1) Read up in your dictionary before you refer to a one of the most commercially successful Unix variants who's name is ubiquitous to enterprise solutions albeit with a questionable future as "obscure".
2) You'll live a longer more healthy life if you stop being so bitter.
Slashdot Mirror
The biggest problem is that the definition of "geek" has been widely expanded. What people consider as a geek is not what it used to be. There are many internet/it/technology pundits calling themselves geeks out there that might otherwise be written off as kooks with a soapbox if it weren't for the internet or TV.
As for the anti-college kick, I think some people are missing the point. Its not so much that college is useless, its that the ROI for some folks isn't worth while to attend. On one end of the spectrum, you might be better off going to a technical/trade school instead of spending a ton of money on a degree that may not land you a job paying all that much better. On the other end of the spectrum, you might be better off skipping an expensive education because you've already gained skills enough to learn and grow on your own. The folks in the middle are still probably better off going to college because of lack of skills or because specific jobs require large amounts of training (ie, a doctor).
People who end up in the innovation industry (computer or otherwise) usually learned what they did by dyi trial and error or early on the job experience. Just taking a look around my own office, the people I look up to and respect are also the ones that either didn't go to college, or didn't go to college for what they are doing now. The people who don't can't be left alone and expected to get stuff done without a script are usually the ones who went to school for the specialty they work in now.
.. is the day I adopt Windows as my desktop again. It would be painful, but there is no way I'm turning my desktop into a giant iPad.
Years ago my previous employer had equipment in two different datacenters in the building. Its more than real estate, or a massive datacenter. Its a very dense internet peering hub with datacenters and office space. I can definitely see this move as strategic, as it puts Google in the "middle" of all the different players.
There are definitely folks out there who can afford to buy a hybrid without concern of gas savings, but most people are going to buy a vehicle that is within their financial means so the upfront cost has to face the reality of cost of ownership. I was one of those people who put enough miles on their car to warrant a hybrid. I did the math and it was cheaper to buy a brand new Prius than continue driving my paid off SUV, due to ongoing maintenance and fuel costs. Several years later, I opted to trade the Prius in for a "clean diesel" that delivers nearly the same MPG but with more comfort and space than the Prius offered. It costs me a bit more overall but due to my changing needs and cramped legroom I think its worth it. Environmentally speaking, I like having a vehicle that pollutes less, but I can't afford not to drive something as fuel efficient which is ultimately why I bought one.
A G5 isn't that old and is still pretty powerful. It still has a lot of life left in it. If you can't figure out what to do with a high end workstation from 1 or 2 processor generations ago then you're best bet is to sell it to somebody who does.
If you're not going to sell it, put a more recent version of Mac OS X Server on it that supports the G5 CPU and put it to use for whatever you need it to do.
The average person probably doesn't know much about one gun from another. I don't fault them for not knowing the make and model. It doesn't look like an assault rifle to me though, it looks more like a high powered long range sniper rifle. Not the sort of thing you bring in to shoot up the office.
I like the comment from the cop though.. be more discreet. Yeah, next time make sure you hide it under your trench coat. :)
That's funny, I don't remember ricin used on 9-11.
If the boxes came from HP, and you know you didnt order them, why not just refuse delivery?
"We received one package, opened it and realized that it was an error since no one in our office had ordered them," she said. "The next day we received another package. At this point we realized that they needed to be turned over to law enforcement."
So you receive something you know you didnt order, and instead of refusing shipment you call the cops? What?
The article also makes it seem like the shipments came from HP, not from somebody who had some sinister intent. It sounds like someone was ordering a bunch of stuff to cover tracks or maybe it was from Ben Bernanke's credit card. LOL
Seems to be an RMS religious rant to me. SAP is a for profit company. They write proprietary software. They have interests to protect. I can fully understand why they don't want the government coming along and forcing their applications to either become open source or allow open source clones of their proprietary application. It is also reasonable that SAP likes Linux, open source development tools, and consortium's that produce open source software that extend and interact with their proprietary software. Presumably this allows them access to additional market share, cheaper development costs, etc. There is no friend or foe. Get over it.
You can make the "cloud" resilient, redundant, and highly available. They obviously did not. If the cloud is extended to two places then you don't need servers (virtual or otherwise) in two places.
1) Don't leave them turned on, especially not in the original system. If the system gets hit by lightning/surge/etc you don't want it to take your backup with it.
2) Rotate your backups. Assuming you have more than one removable media, swap them out in a rotating fashion.. That gives you multiple restore points in case you have one of the backup media volumes go bad.
3) If you use an internal drive dock, get one that encloses the drive so it has basic physical protection from handling. Store them in the plastic (usually antistatic) bag they came in somewhere away from the main system.
4) Instead of using an internal dock with multiple internal drives that all need their own dock sled, consider an external USB/Firewire/eSATA drive instead. You can even get ethernet based drives too, so they can be used on your home network. You can buy an external drive enclosure for pretty cheap and use the same internal drives saving a bit of money, making it about the same cost as using an internal drive docking solution with the bonus that you can then access your backup from ANY system, not just the one that has the dock.
If the Downward Spiral is too objectionable for the iPhone App Store, how come they still have no problem selling the Downward Spiral on the iTunes Music Store, so you can listen to said album on your iPhone? That makes no sense to me whatsoever.
Apple makes some great products but every once and a while they make some ass backwards decision that just can't be described.
Eh, people already get to watch those shows for free... Advertisers foot the bill when its on broadcast TV. Why should web viewing be any different? For now I'll just stick to Tivo and watch what I want when I want, assuming I get whatever channel it gets broadcast on. No worrying about all the crap that you have to go through to watch on Hulu or when ABC decides I should watch the show.
Yet another moron in business that thinks their shit doesn't stink and people have no idea that there is a real difference between a Mac and a PC. Sure a lot of components are the same now, since they are both on Intel but I have and will continue to happily pay more for a system that I don't have to worry about getting whatever the latest virus is, doesn't routinely crash, is well designed, well integrated computer. It does what I want it to do and more! And truth be told, you can NOT find a comparable PC for $500 less. It might be cheaper, but its not significantly cheaper when comparing apples to... well.. Apples.
I don't think you are missing anything. Anybody who cancels in "protest" is just having a hissy fit.
Say what you want about Blockbuster, but they are still giving you over and above what Netflix offers since you can still return the movies and get one back immediately from the store. The original article submitter is a jack-ass.
Given my own experience, a bunch of Word docs in some central repository is not ideal from a user prospective. Having all your documentation on a Wiki is a lot easier to read and update when necessary. Its like having a giant documentation flow chart that lets you link "real time". Sub-procedures being called in one document are just a click away instead of having to go pull document # such and such.
The ONLY downside to doing it this way is having hard copies for "DR" purposes, though a replicated server works as long as you can get network access. When you start printing documentation out, people stop looking for updates!
Dominant and competitive are two separate beasts. The G1, or Android in general, need not dominate the market to be successful.
There is only one iPhone, but App developers haven't stopped producing. I like the G1 better than the iPhone since it includes a slide-out keyboard and still packs in all the other features of an iPhone. Once the G1 has been around for longer and Android gets more market share I expect the Android Market to go head to head with the App Store.
In your particular situation it probably was a shady deal... but ultimately its the company that looks bad when they send out someone who's wearing a hat that's too big for their head. It is in their best interest to fix that situation and get the right person in to deliver. I'm not sure where I read this but it was a good quote... "1st rate managers hire 1st class workers. 2nd rate managers hire 3rd rate workers."
Now... IT is a huge multilegged beast. Some types of jobs are dominated by foreign workers while others you rarely see them filled. Generally speaking I've noticed in the last few places I've worked (in three different metro areas) that usually DBA's and programmers are predominately the ones on H1B visas while most of the other types of IT jobs are staffed by "locals". Helpdesk and call center type jobs are the ones getting outsourced overseas, as well as some contract programming staff. The programming jobs are going overseas less because a lot of companies realized that paying by the amount of code written wasn't in their best interest. A lot of the overseas outsourced used to go to India but has started to go to Malaysia and other places too.
Contract outfits that are just filling seats are also notoriously shady. Not just with H1B visas but also with shafting anybody. They tend to hire people for relatively low wages so they can take a huge markup.. Some won't deal with H1B's but still lowball people until they find some sucker who doesn't know their worth or is desperate because they are out of work. The people that get hired are usually subpar, but they don't care because they can always dump them and replace them with someone else so they can keep bringing in huge markups.
Consulting firms (like who I work for now) and specialized application or function outsourcing aka Managed Services firms (like who I used to work for) tend to be the most likely to hire the best person they can with the most experience. Their reputation is all they have so quality over quantity rules. You still see offshore and H1B visa employees at these types of places but not to the extent you see in others.
Where do you get your numbers for "massive unemployment"? Recent economic downturn notwithstanding we have far less unemployment here in the US than many other countries that severely restrict non-citizen workers. The only time I hear of people being unemployed in IT for long periods of time is out in California. Given the people I've met from California its a different beast out there altogether and suspect that people are either not looking hard enough or not looking far enough away... jobs are (usually) available during good periods if you are willing to relocate or adjust your pay expectations.
Short answer, they don't. They lied on their resume, hence why the position came back open again after the company figured it out. Hopefully they learned their lesson.
I'm not saying it doesn't happen... but not all H1B visa hires are shady. Think about it this way... If someone can come in from India or elsewhere with little direct experience, get trained up via the same manufacturer training you'd go to, maybe 30+ years of experience isn't worth as much salary as you think it should. Experience alone doesn't entitle you to more money. Please don't take this the wrong way.. I'm not saying your experience doesn't count for anything. I'm just trying to point out that its about supply and demand. It is something I face as well, but I don't take it personally. The guy from India is just trying to take make a living like I am.
I don't want H1B visas to be given out like candy either but it is better to get foreigners in who can add to our collective brain trust (and economy) than to let companies ship the whole process overseas like what has happened to much of our manufacturing. We have to compete in a global economy, but I'd much rather compete with someone on my own soil that's willing to work for 1/3rd less salary than someone half way around the world for 3/4ers less.
Ridiculous executive salaries aside, companies will try to get the best talent they can for their money. If they are willing to sacrifice quality for significant cost savings they probably aren't a place you'd want to work for to begin with. Penny wise and pound foolish as they say. It is hard to see it that way when you are out of a job looking for anything you can get.. which I do believe if you have people on unemployment in a certain field that should negate H1B visas from being issued for that field. For example, right now we obviously have a large amount of unemployment.. There shouldn't be any H1B visas issued. That much I think we could probably agree on.
I think its debatable about H1B visas being too easy. I do think there is a genuine shortage of smart capable people with the right background to fill a lot of positions out there.
Part of that though may be because of a lot of employers don't want to spend the money on training, either because of the cost or the fear that the person will up and move on to somewhere else because now they have said training. Another problem is that a lot of kids coming out of school are still idiots who don't understand the basics of computers and troubleshooting. That is something that needs to be fixed if they want to be able to compete and demand a higher salary than someone coming over with an H1B visa. I think the US has lost its way in education from Kindergarten up. There are many things to fix first if you want to cut back on H1B visas.
H1B Visas are pretty common in IT. I don't know that I've ever been directly hit by this myself, but I have been lowballed before so low that it wouldn't surprise me that they were trying to get someone in on a work visa. During my last hunt for a job I interviewed at two different places and knowing what I was already making they still offered $20k less.
I have also seen a shift in recent years as two different dynamics happen. First off, a lot of places that have gone down the H1B visa route in the past have figured out it isn't worth the savings because of the legal hassle combined with the fact that they can only get junior level people who've padded their resumes at the lower end of the salary spectrum. Which is the case no matter what your immigration status is. The other part of that is that the folks who really do know what they are doing are getting higher salaries, so more and more often the companies are really only filling roles with H1B workers where companies can't find qualified locals.
The way I look at the whole situation is that there will always be companies willing to sacrifice quality for cost. They don't see the higher productivity and a better solutions that a qualified senior level person can bring to the table. All they see is "we have X dollars to fill this role". IT isn't just a cost center, it can also be a value add if you have the right people.
I can't speak on behalf of my employer but from my own experience I can say that the pay is not the issue. For one thing, the pay isn't advertised up front. That's something that gets negotiated after you interview, which seems to be standard practice. I certainly have no complaints about my salary, especially when you add in bonuses, benefits, training, social functions etc that they pay for. Judging from the amount of luxury cars in the parking lot I'd say I'm not the only one who is getting paid a decent salary.
I'm not sure what you're getting at, but both were US citizens as far as I know.
The reason why I brought it up here on Slashdot was not to bitch and complain. (Or get into a pissing contest with a Linux salesman.) I brought it up because my entire team had been talking about how surprised we all were that we weren't getting in resumes like we expected given all the details you've pointed out.
Funny how you claim to know so much about my organization and repeatedly make broad inflammatory claims. You have no idea who I work for or what the company's business model is.
What I can tell is you is I am not a Solaris bigot and won't get into a pissing contest about which OS is better. It just happens to be the predominant OS at every company I've worked for in the last 10 years. For the high end, Linux doesn't have much if any market share though from what I've seen.
Its kind of like arguing about which is the best car... a BMW, a Land Rover, or a Prius. Context matters. Each has its strengths for certain tasks.
Two words of advice for you..
1) Read up in your dictionary before you refer to a one of the most commercially successful Unix variants who's name is ubiquitous to enterprise solutions albeit with a questionable future as "obscure".
2) You'll live a longer more healthy life if you stop being so bitter.