That is universally true.

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I'm not the parent comment here but I'll note that the uptick in IoT/PaaS projects has created a nice niche if you have low level experience + embedded Linux + some cloud API experience. And not just taking an RPi and having it send JSON up to Azure, but defining a platform and creating a whole project full-stack.

Companies are realizing that the IoT node structure is not just a one-shot project that ships and is never maintained. It's part of the revenue stream. So the need for embedded Linux developers is increasing and the experience base out there isn't great. Again, having an RPi in your desk drawer doesn't make you an embedded Linux dev.

How do the jobs pay, outside FAANG or whatever? The money for developing embedded software was out of line (far too low) with the difficulty of those jobs and the importance of those systems even before those systems had "IoT" sprinkled all over them.

> So the need for embedded Linux developers is increasing and the experience base out there isn't great. Again, having an RPi in your desk drawer doesn't make you an embedded Linux dev.

Maybe things have changed, but in the past there hasn't been much financial incentive for devs to build up those skills beyond the "RPi in the desk drawer" (zing!) level. "Work hard, make a lot less than a web dev, be less hirable in the future because of your niche skills." I'm speaking as someone who actually did look into what training myself on some of Wind River's products would cost, about eight years ago, and looked into what the jobs paid.

edit: I can see by looking at a grandparent comment that we're probably in agreement