I have never been paid to write code, and my formal CS education is limited to AP Computer Science, and a one-credit Java class in college. But like 2OEH8eoCRo0, I can say that Red Hat Linux changed my life. Experience running Linux from kernel 1.2.13/Red Hat Linux 2.1 onward at home, and contributing small bits of code to a project or two (and RPMs to community repos), got me into a career at Wall Street after college, covering hardware and software companies (including RHAT) as an equity analyst during and after the dotcom bubble.