Companies just don't have the time and money now to retrain employees on Linux. Imo when a stable Linux distro maps closely to '98 and supports legacy DOS programs a lot of companies will switch over. Linux Needs one distro to divert the '98/XP user stream, then *Nixers can quabble over which Linux distro. is 'the best'. Currently, I'm betting on Mandrake will get there first, and I dual boot 8.1 alongside '98 and XPpro.
Studying Linux is like choosing to learn DOS or NT4 -or both. Imo, one should learn both the language and the GUI so he can troubleshoot the GUI. At this time which Linux Distro to follow is still highly debatable. Here's a good rundown on the distros.
Right now I have A+, MCP2000 and Network+ and stil can't get a job locally in the field. Two weeks ago I lost out on a great job to an MCSE because they were migrating from NT4 to 2000. They kept asking if I'd be willing to get the MCSE and I said 'no way, not interested' because of many of the reasons cited in the article. Jeeze, if I'd known they had an MCSE in line I would have told them 'why MCSEs suck'. Famous quotes from MCSEs: "You can't run 2000 Server over Cat3, you'll have to rewire [a 6-building site]" and "the first thing you have to do is install [enter multi-thousand $$$ hardware and MS products here]".
MCSEs are not trained as managers of MS products as much as they are trained as marketers of MS products.
/john
The tech job market in the DC area is still strong. A few certifications + clearances = $$$. Maybe the job market in Oklahoma will turn around when the economy picks up again - next spring? Best of luck job hunting.