Did you know that there are 309 Linux Distributions, as of today, being monitored by distrowatch.com and they do not even claim to track nearly all the flavors out there?

According to distrowatch, "A Linux distribution is like a religion. If you've ever tried to suggest to another person that his or her choice of a distro might not be the best, then you know what I mean."

There are so many flavors/distributions because, anyone with a little time on their hands can create a distribution.This is a problem or not, depending on where you are coming from. Are you looking to tinker on your computer in your basement or are you going to look for a job as a Linux Administrator/Linux Developer? If you are looking for a Linux job then you better know the in-demand distros.

There are a lot of very good articles going into the technical merits, features of each distribution and that is not the point of this analysis. (see How to choose the best Linux distro for you, 5 Ways to Decide on a Linux Distribution etc). This analysis is to find which Linux distribution/s are being adopted in the corporate world and if you are looking at Linux as a job/career, what would you make.

 Linux Flavors included in this analysis: BSD, centOS, Debian, Fedora, Gentoo, RedHat, Suse, Ubuntu.

Methodology: Use OdinJobs the largest technology job search engine to look at the demand and median salary for each of these over 2008 and 2009.

On the right, an average job demand was looked up for 2008 & 2009 for each of the distribution analyzed. More than 80% of the demand is for RedHat, BSD and Suse. (Aside point: The name Mandriva, what was originally Mandrake has not caught on. There was not a single position that used the new term. Mandrake however was still used and had an average demand of about 10 jobs a month). RedHat at 3000, is more than double that of BSD (800), and Suse (550). centOs(200), Debian(300), Fedora(225), and Ubunt(175) were the center of the pack. Gentoo (60) finished last. (If you have a favorite Linux distribution and want to check its demand, go to Market Statistics and type in your distribution.)

 

Here is a monthly demand for RedHat for 2008 - 2009

Generated By: OdinJobs - IT Jobs and Technology Job Search Engine

The important thing to note here, is that demand for RedHat after falling big time in Nov & Dec of 2008 has come back in Feb 2009 to the 2008 levels and is doing a little better this year compared to last year. This pattern is being seen across most of IT.

 

So, how does the top 3 most popular Linux distributions compare in median salary offered.

Salary Comparison for a Linux Administrator Generated By: OdinJobs - IT Jobs and Technology Job Search Engine

Salary Comparison for a Linux Developer Generated By: OdinJobs - IT Jobs and Technology Job Search Engine

 A linux administrator is a linux administrator, there is no difference if you are managing RedHat, Suse or BSD. However, a Suse developer gets a premium compared to a RedHat or BSD developer. Why, any ideas?

Conclusion

All the different distributions are great, it gives a geek complete freedom to hack and experiment, but if you want a job in the corporate world, you would fare better if you are familiar with RedHat, Suse or BSD, more RedHat than the others and if you are a developer Suse provides the best bang for earning big bucks.

 

 

 

See the latest opportunities for Linux: Linux Jobs

 

 

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The Pew Charitable Trust recently released a first of its kind analysis titled "The Clean Energy Economy: Repowering Jobs, Business and Investments Across America". The report analyzes the increasingly important role clean energy plays in the economic recovery of the country.

What is Clean Energy Economy and what happened to "Green Economy" and "Green Jobs"?

Their footnote 12 states that the word "green" has become so ubiquitous that it has lost its meaning and value and hence a growing number of policy wonks, opinion leaders have started to use the term "clean energy economy" as it provides a clear focus on developing renewable energy sources that expand market opportunities, strengthen America?s fiscal health, reduce our nation?s dependence on traditional fossil fuels, and mitigate pollution from global warming. So remember "Green" is so yesterday.

Where are the jobs?

They are already here. The clean energy economy jobs started coming into the picture in the mid - 1990s. With the right policy guidance, a sustained public and private investment, and a growing demand for sustainable development from consumers, this sector of the economy has tremendous potential to grow and create new jobs in the years to come. Even in this recession, the report finds that job losses and a decrease  in private investment was lesser in this sector than the general economy.

So, what constitutes the "Clean Energy Economy"?

This is where the report is path breaking. As far as I know, they are the first to come up with a stringent definition of what business and companies constitute the clean energy economy. They counted only companies and jobs on the supply side, not the demand side, of the
clean energy economy. i.e. the included only companies and businesses that delivered products and services and not companies/business that consumed them to make them "greener".  They defined it as "A clean energy economy generates jobs, businesses and investments while expanding clean energy production, increasing energy efficiency, reducing  greenhouse gas emissions, waste and pollution, and conserving water and other natural resources". The clean energy economy cuts across the following categories

1. Clean Energy
2. Energy Efficiency
3. Environmentally Friendly Production
4. Conservation & Pollution Mitigation
5. Training & Support

What is different now?

Sure, these areas and jobs in these areas have existed for some time, so what is different now and why the excitement.

Public policy, public funding and private VC funding.

A new focus of public policy towards clean, sustainable technologies and jobs, the recently passed American Recovery & Re-investment Act and an increased private investment in clean energy sectors are the reasons for the new excitement. The American Recovery and Re-investment Act (popularly known as the Federal Stimulus Bill) has earmarked more than $130 billion of federal spending and assistance to this sector.

Federal Stimulus for Clean Energy Economy

Energy & Transportation	$85 billion
Wind Solar & Renewable Manufacturing	$21 billion
Energy Grid Modernization	$11 billion
Battery Technology	$2 billion
Energy Efficiency	$6 billion
Weatherization Program	$5 billion

 In 2008, private venture capital firms invested $5.9 billion in this area, a 48% jump from 2007. Increasing adoption of emission standards, stress on alternate fuels at both the federal and state level is also a big contributor to the excitement in this area.

Conclusion

The report concludes that although this sector has a tremendous potential to create new jobs, maybe even jobs that are hard to off-shore, achieving full potential is not a given. The report recommends a comprehensive national economy-wide energy plan. "Federal and state policies, together with continued private-sector support, will position the United States as a leader in the global clean energy economy".

 

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OdinJobs, the largest IT job search engine, announces the release of the third quarter, 2008 Job Market Statistics, providing a comprehensive picture of the job market including historical comparison of the demand trends, median salary and salary distribution.

"The market statistics tool allow users to query our knowledge base of over 8 million jobs to determine salary distribution and job demand" says Naveen Bala, founder and president of OdinJobs.com. "Users can preform a what-if analysis using multiple skill combinations to see what is still in demand and what pays more".

"Salary tools in the market heavily depend on surveys and do not support what if analysis", says Bala. "Every working and job seeking professional need to use this tool to see if their skill combination is still hot in the market. This tool is also available as a downloadable and customizable widget that can be added to any website or blog".

Visit http://www.odinjobs.com/StaffIT/MarketStatistics to see the tool in action, or go to http://www.odinjobs.com/tools.html to customize this tool for your blog or website.

OdinJobs tracks the technology job market by monitoring thousands of corporate web sites, job boards and blogs. IT professionals, employers and recruiters can drill down on the basis of job roles (development, testing, management etc) or by popular skills and analyze the market across the United States.

About OdinJobs.com

OdinJobs (www.odinjobs.com) finds the right job for a job seeker, where ever it may be. Odinjobs uses its AI based matching to identify the right jobs based on a job seeker's qualification and preference. OdinJobs makes job searching easy, fast, and more relevant.

 

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Ever wonder what it takes to get an interview for a federal job? What is the difference between applying for a federal job and a civilian job?

Resume expert, Heather Eagar gives us some insight to getting in with the feds.

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