I've come to a bit of a dilemma and was wondering what the perspective of the Perl Monks would be.

My paid work is as a Visual Basic/Visual C++/ASP developer, but my development environment of choice is Perl/C/Linux. The company I work for currently has an opening for a C/Perl developer to work on their HP-UX machines, which seems like an ideal job.

Now my dilemma is this, while it would make me happier to take this C/Perl job, I get the feeling from reading the job sections of the trade papers that the majority of jobs outside my present company are based on using Microsoft products (in the UK atleast). I do not plan on being with my current company for the rest of my life, and with a family to support I have to keep an eye on my future prospects.

What is you're opinion, firstly of the future of the programming industry (please be as honest as possible, no MS bashing just for the sake of it), and secondly, is it better to hate your job in order to provide a secure future for your family, or to risk that security in order to enjoy your work.

Thanks for you time

ChilliHead.

In reply to A career dilemma by ChilliHead

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