[wellylug] Ok, that was dumb of me, but I do have a question...

[Ewen McNeill]

In message <3E9BA741.3090209 at compuserve.com>, Bret Comstock Waldow writes:
>Is anyone getting paid to work on Linux?  I don't mind hearing variants 
>on "well, we should be", but please be clear whether you know of someone 
>actually getting paid to work on Linux.  

I know of at least three companies in Wellington which do development
almost entirely based on Linux (Catalyst IT, Katipo, The Virtual)
and a couple of others that earn much of their money from Linux
installation/support (Naos, Centurion).  All of these are small/medium
sized companies though -- at a guess that represents in the order of 40
people in Wellington being paid to work on Linux.  I also know people at
Datacom, etc, who are paid (in part) to support Linux systems (not sure
if Datacom are doing any Linux-based development at present).

And no I don't know if any of them are hiring at present (well, I do
know that Naos isn't hiring right now but may be looking for someone
later in the year).

Based on 5 years of making a living doing Unix and Linux Support and
Development, I'd say that there's a market there, and it's growing.  But
it's probably still a niche market for a while yet.

Whether that's enough to help you pick what to study, I don't know.  If
it were me at very least I'd try to avoid studying only Windows stuff if
I prefered a job working with Linux....  ('sides cross-platform,
cross-language, etc people are much more useful in a small market like
Wellington)

Ewen

PS: Yes, I am indeed the same Ewen McNeill, and it is the same Naos, of 
    the "pre-Internet" Wellington BBS days, for those that happen to remember.