While only a few years ago skills were just one in a series of possible assets for job applicants looking to stand out, in today's fast-paced, highly competitive workforce, it can actually be a make-or-break element. In fact, a quick search of job sites shows more than 8,000 technical jobs requiring Linux. Add to that recent reports showing demand for Linux skills has exceeded for the first time ever and this is one trend IT professionals need to be aware of.

The steady advancement of Linux through community and business involvement has made it the world's fastest-growing operating system. It is the core of large data centers all over the world, successfully carrying mission critical workloads at a fraction of the cost of proprietary operating systems. Following a major push in the last decade, Linux is also now being used on a variety of servers, mobile platforms and even HDTV set-top boxes, allowing IT professionals to choose where their run best.

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Need more evidence? Consider these facts:

• When it comes to , Linux is king. As of November 2010, 91% of the world's ran on a version of the Linux kernel.