I like the plug group, why try to chime in when I can.  Some environments are almost toxic trying to ask question or get support (ahem, arch linux chats), but try to not be those folks.

My first exposure to unix was in 99, my first tech job, we had a solaris shell account on our network management server to hit everything we wanted in an isp network.  In 2000 at a new job, I learned what linux was with some coworkers teaching me linux and solaris simultaneously, and installed slackware on my server for years.  It served me well for years, breaking, rebuilding, learning, and other things that acquainted me to the experience.  Learning linux prepared me for the future, learning other distros and cross-linux disciplines to be somewhat productive in an industry even if not a system administrator or anything in particular.  I do mostly network and security, and linux rules these, even if vendors name themselves as something else, they all end of day run linux, which at least lets you know where they and you subsequently live.

Learning never goes out of vogue, keep doing it.  Even windoze.  I'd suggest even if pirating (or pay cheaply) a copy of windoze server learning Active Directory and other windoze things to boot.  At this point, you'll never escape windoze.  Funny now that microsoft's best selling platform *is* linux now, but still good to know both worlds as they become inseparable.

-mb