Is Front-End Development not enough?

I'd say that, sadly enough, he's probably right. And the reason is that most people who can do the front-end developing can also do some back-end. So, if you limit yourself just to the front-end you're not going to be as desirable to an employer who expects some back-end experience.

As for the Linux thing... most back-end is run on some Linux-based server. That's just a fact. So being comfortable in that environment is definitely a plus. Do you need to know how to do advanced shell scripting? Probably not. But you at least need to know how to move around in the file system, and some basic commands.

I wouldn't be disheartened by this. A lot of people get the urge to say something negative.

It all depends on your idea of that word 'enough'. Web development is the kind of career where you never stop learning, and that's a good thing because this stuff is fun, and once you've mastered something it gets repetitive staying inside the same knowledge bubble.

In terms of having 'enough to get anywhere', then HTML, CSS and JavaScript are enough to get a job that involves writing those programming languages. Your salary will reflect your skills and that's a good thing, because once you've mastered those three languages, which will happen quickly once you're doing a job that uses them, you'll be moving onto the next language.

Focus on the present and what you can do right now, the rest will come in its own time.

Unless you are planning on freelancing and doing everything yourself, I definitely disagree with your friend!

While it's always good to know the basics of 'the other side', if you want to focus on Front-end Development/Design then that is what you should focus on. By doing that, you would become an 'expert' in what you do and that is very desirable to any employer.

I have some friends that work for development/design companies, and they have their field-of-focus. One does Back-end design (PHP) and that is pretty much all she does. She knows how to code HTML and CSS, but her job is to code the Back-end. She works closely with the Front-end developers (there are also Front-end Designers she works with) and they work closely with her. Each has a job that he/she specialize in.

Another example would be when I worked in editing. We were never expected to know how to do every type of editing. That would not be efficient. A job was given to a specific editor for what was needed. If you were a proofreader then that is what you did. You were not expected to do Content-Editing, and if you were a Copyeditor, you weren't expected to do proofreading.

So, I would not worry about what your friend said. If you want to do Front-end, then that's what you do. If, at sometime in the future, you wanted to expand and add Back-end to your training, that's great. But I know many, many people that are doing just fine with specializing in only one or the other.

I think he may have exaggerated the "to get anywhere" part, but ultimately it depends on who and where you want to go work. Bigger sites/companies certainly are going to have teams of guys who do one thing very well. In that environment, you wouldn't be expected to be the sysadmin and code up that sweet main navigation menu.

But as you get into smaller and smaller companies, you should be able to open your horizon. Many company owners at that point are more concerned about getting it done than perfect. So you don't have to be the best back end guy, but you should know your way around it, or vice versa.

So the question to ask yourself is who/what/where do you want to spend your career working, how broad or precise of a skill set does that area need from you, what is the range of skills you're going to learn, and than go be that.

Either way, you can make a lucrative career if you're passionate and hard working.

If you're self taught, you're likely going to get a first job at a smaller start-up and smaller start-ups tend to like to have jack of all trades types. Can you get a job knowing only HTML, CSS and Javascript? Absolutely. But you'll have an easier time if you at least understand the command line, databases and the backend. You can learn basic linux commands in a few hours. Basic backend knowledge shouldn't take too long either, I'd recommend Python as it has a very welcoming environment to new programmers, then top it off by learning about relational databases.