@woofie: Cheers! My wife is an Aussie and we're relocating to Melbourne - the UK is pants (i.e. not a place I would like to bring up my daughter) - and although a born Brit I can't wait to get out to Oz and show them how to use Linux properly
I've gotta agree with what woofie is saying. I think a solid background in programming (amongst other things) is a good prerequisite for any job. I am (dare I say it) very proficient in automation through shell scripting, plus I know a good deal of Java, PHP, Perl and C. The "logic" of programming gives you an immense understanding of computing at a "lower" level (even with high-level languages!).
Whilst using Linux at home, I moved into my Windows job, and automated a lot of Windows tasks through shell scripting via Cygwin (Linux emulation layer on Windows). This enabled me to move within the organistation into HP-UX and Linux administration by showing my seniors a thing or two about saving time
When I first started working with *nix OSes I thought "My god, what flexibilty" - I am by no means starting a OS vs OS debate here, but I was amazed by *nix's way of getting the OS to work for you, rather than you working to get the OS to do what you want it to....
BTW, Woofie - if there are any jobs going in Sydney, we'd be willing to move up there!
Also; I am looking for developers to help me with some of my Open Source projects - I've got so much on the go at the moment it's hard to keep track of everything. If any of you would care to take a look at my site (
http://www.zazzybob.com) and would like to help out, please drop me a line. Something I'd like to do is port my ZSysInfo script to Solaris, and develop my ZBKB application further (look at /sbin on my site... you'll see what I'm on about). None of this work is commercial, all of it is GPL'd, and I'd love to collaborate with like-minded individuals to expedite development.
Cheers
ZB