I forgot to thank you for the post! Thanks, and I'm giving it a go. :)

Could be. Previous to my current remote gig (Perl, Ruby on Linux) (4 years so far), I was also remote full time (C++/MFC/ATL and later we switched to C#/.Net) for 10 years. I guess what I have to realize is that I'm asking a lot - fulltime remote and a large-ish salary (at least, for where I live. I recently checked the cost of living between here and San Jose, CA for shits and giggles - more than *double* my salary).

I greatly prefer bluntness. I often miss subtle-ty. It's probably nice for me to keep Visual Studio/C# for "fun" projects - that'll provide a distinction with work - anyway. :)

Thank you for the kind words. I think you may be right - as much as I enjoy C# and Visual Studio, it sounds like it's going to end up being the wrong career move for me. Linux, Perl and Ruby is where I'll stay. :)

I hope my other message did not come out arrogant or cruel - I really appreciate your reply, thank you for your time.

I've actually kept up in my spare time. I'm considering taking a few MCSD exams - "Web Apps" and "Windows Store Apps." IOW, I take issue with being called "out of routine" - I'm well in it, just not doing it for a living. I would not consider a junior position or "mid-developer" position - I'd like to use C#/Windows again, but not at such a salary cut and all that. Programming, at some level, is programming; I'm not terribly interested in companies who require that you fill a certain buzzword quota. :/

Hello all, in a previous life (4 years ago), I was a C++ and later C# developer on Windows - same company for about 10 years. The past four years I've been a Perl/Ruby developer on Linux. Due to some concerns and issues at work, it's time for me to move on again. I'd like to get back into C#/Windows development, but I'm noticing a HUGE difference between job listings requesting Perl programmers, and those requesting C# developers. The Perl listings will almost always respond, even if it's just to say "Sorry, we're not interested," or "Sorry, we've already filled the position." (I've had four Perl related interviews in the past few months; two were okay but I didn't want, one was terrible, and one was *great* - but there were literally thousands of applicants and I didn't quite make the cut.) For C# positions, I've gotten.. Nothing. No response at all. Part of the complicating factor here is that the position has to be full time remote (though I do travel as much as needed, and would continue to be willing to do so). I live approximately in the middle of nowhere (wife and I bought a house here), and we would absolutely hate to move. I would not rule it out, but it would require an enormous salary increase (cost of living here is almost nothing - I shudder to think of moving to San Jose for example). Am I doing something obvious wrong? Are people really saying "whoa he hasn't used C# professionally for 4 years, skip this guy"? Do they think I'm somehow tainted by Perl/Ruby? I'd really, really appreciate any help, suggestions, thoughts or consolations you might have to offer.