Keeping Current

Mike7

From 
https://www.lastweekinaws.com/blog/the-sun-also-crashes-keeping-current/



A common pattern endemic to the world of technical people is that we’re inclined to identify ourselves by the technology we work with. This is both natural and an inherently limiting philosophy when left unchecked.

UnixGuy

Nice article! That used to be me (Unix huh). I loved it so much, was so good at it, got all the certs and even trained clients on Unix.

Up until Sun Microsystems was acquired by Oracle...then DevOps became a thing, and the cloud and....I lost interest.

I was young so it was easy to develop identity around what I was good at, enjoyed, and spent 8+ hrs a day doing.

Live and learn...

Mike7

Ride the waves and keep learning 

JDMurray

In 1990, I had to decide if I was to remain a UNIX programmer or jump fully into the hot, hot, hot world of Windows 3.0--as I could not do both. It wasn't so much that I needed to alter my personal image as "programmer," but instead I needed to shift from one OS culture/community to another. Microsoft was very "shiny" back then and UNIX was, well, "scruffy beards and suspenders." I can't say that I've regretted my choice, but I'm now circling back in Linux. Requirements and technologies change over time and we "tech pros" need to either adapt or die. This seems to be what this article is saying.

Mike7

Nice input!  As "tech pros", we need to know what is in demand and adapt accordingly. 
To me, the next "wave" is cloud, devops, data analytics and AIML.  Security is still important; but a security professional with next to zero cloud knowledge will struggle. 

I would argue that with containers and serverless; the base OS does not matter as long as it works.
Here is a earlier article by the same author https://www.lastweekinaws.com/blog/nobody-cares-about-the-operating-system-anymore/

DatabaseHead

You should always be looking to build up another skill always.  Regardless if it's IT or something else....   I sort of agree with that article but not really. Java Developers are strong in the fold since 1995.  They are making out like bandits now with blockchain development and real-time data stream development.  (Reminds me of JD's cartoon)

A lot of it is determined with luck.  Did you select the right tech/skills or not.  

I like most of you could use to pick up another skill to tie into what I already possess.  Data Analytics/Database is where I live now, the Cloud would be nice to add onto.  Might be by force or else slim Pickens for me in the future. 

Thankfully I am on aggressive savings and retirement plan, which will hopefully have me out of the workforce 52 - 55.  

Jon_Cisco

I know a lot of people that are content to do their job and forget about skill development. I think that's a bit risky in IT since it changes so fast. Hopefully anyone who is not continually learning something new is at least prepared for a bumpy road ahead. I have seen several rounds of obvious layoffs that somehow surprised people.

SteveLavoie

Over my 20 years in a VAR/MSP shop, I would say "hot" skill change every 5-6 years. I had years (2008-2014) where virtualisation is very hot.. now it is basic requirement, then it is more cloud and cybersecurity.. Always get prepared for the next new hot skill.. and you wont be jobless.