No mature public Linux installations in Europe? Either Gartner has chosen to mislead, or they have used some definition of the words public and mature that I don't understand. And people still take notice of what these guys say?

Does this apply to your working hours and/or use of the work network, or does it bind you in your own time and on your own hardware?

But there *is* faith in mathematics - the true mathematicians take the axiom of choice, while the heretics deny it. Infidels!

A masters in CS is worth doing, particularly if you want to do more than be a code monkey (design work, project management, ...). Programming is a skill. You can learn a lot from books and classes, but ultimately you only learn by doing. So, if you are going to go down the rout of further structured learning, pick a course that is heavy on coursework and projects, and get yourself work experience placements during the holidays. PhDs in CS are well worth doing if you wish to stay in academia. The focus in academia is on the theory of software, not on making things that really work. This doesn't suit everybody. Above all, don't stay in academia or in a programming job if you don't enjoy it. Life is short, and there is plenty of crappy code written by people who hate programming and their job. If you get it right, creating software can be a hoby that you get paid for. What else can anyone ask for?