You can probably handle .NET, and if you want a stable, enterprise-fueled job, then an enterprise language like .NET is great.
I don't think HN hates .NET or Java, they just don't make the frontpage as much. .NET (with C#) was quite a pleasure for me to work with and sometimes I miss it while hacking on Python+Django for my daily work.
Also, don't sell yourself short. Let the interviewers decide you're not worthy. Put your best foot forward and hit up some of those shops. If they like you, they'll have you come in and train you. They'll probably have their own deploy strategies and such already setup, so you'll have time to learn the language. Remember these are established places, not move-fast-break-things startups, so it isn't necessarily like you'll be writing production c# or Java the first morning. (If you do that's awesome, but I find that to be unlikely)
Seconding that .NET/C# can be a pleasure to work with. Stuff like LINQ is awesome, Visual Studio is a great IDE. I've often thought that if I wanted to just rake in some easy cash I'd go work for BigCorp doing .NET and save up my cash for my next adventure.
EntityFramework + LINQ is an amazing combo for getting things done quickly. And Visual Studio provides the best debugging experience I've ever had. Couple it with ReSharper[1] and you're in code heaven. At least until you run into one of the INT_MAX subtle quirks of C#/.NET, at which point you feel like throwing your dev machine off the roof.
Comments
You can probably handle .NET, and if you want a stable, enterprise-fueled job, then an enterprise language like .NET is great.
I don't think HN hates .NET or Java, they just don't make the frontpage as much. .NET (with C#) was quite a pleasure for me to work with and sometimes I miss it while hacking on Python+Django for my daily work.
Also, don't sell yourself short. Let the interviewers decide you're not worthy. Put your best foot forward and hit up some of those shops. If they like you, they'll have you come in and train you. They'll probably have their own deploy strategies and such already setup, so you'll have time to learn the language. Remember these are established places, not move-fast-break-things startups, so it isn't necessarily like you'll be writing production c# or Java the first morning. (If you do that's awesome, but I find that to be unlikely)
Seconding that .NET/C# can be a pleasure to work with. Stuff like LINQ is awesome, Visual Studio is a great IDE. I've often thought that if I wanted to just rake in some easy cash I'd go work for BigCorp doing .NET and save up my cash for my next adventure.
EntityFramework + LINQ is an amazing combo for getting things done quickly. And Visual Studio provides the best debugging experience I've ever had. Couple it with ReSharper[1] and you're in code heaven. At least until you run into one of the INT_MAX subtle quirks of C#/.NET, at which point you feel like throwing your dev machine off the roof.
[1] http://www.jetbrains.com/resharper/