Yea I used to be in the MSP space. But quite frankly I got tired of fixing printers and dealing with end users whinny about stupid things for $20 an hour. Back in 2014 I decided to lean into being a Linux admin and never looked back. So much nicer in the Linux pool than it was in the windows pool....also it pays better lol.Yep, I think the reception would have been much different if the tone of the response had been "hey, have you thought of seeing what type of admin positions are open in your area and then doing some training in that area". Heck, didn't even have to specify one OS over the other or anything like that. There are tons of job sites that you can look at for trends, or recruiters you can talk to that will let you know what is currently hot and hiring. That's good for getting a job right away that you can have to make ends meet while you search for a position you really want, or if you want to switch up what you do and are okay with that. For someone who really likes being a Linux admin and doesn't want to do anything else, that's the only role they're going to want. I was very lucky that when I moved from 16 years of IT support to InfoSec, I actually enjoyed my new role as much or more than I had enjoyed IT support. It's hard to work a job you don't like.
Also for the record I started out only looking for remote Linux jobs. Then as time went on opened it up to Linux/windows then as time went on uneven applied to some win admin jobs then as time went on I was applying for any admin role remote or in the area.
Luckily, I landed a role that's remote so that's nice I still get to work from home.