@Moriador
You're so very wrong on so many levels, and the reason is because you're speaking in popular "safe lingo", the sort that people are bound to agree with just because it sounds feasible.  That's precisely why people fail, they listen to everyone else instead of using their own commom sense and their own initiative.

Do you think the peeps behind HITFILM gave a crap about whether others thought they would succeed?
Fact is, they have, and they're growing.

The only reason Adobe are "Industry Standard" is because people behave like sheep, they flock to what they think most people are using, they like to be like their friends or collegues.  Fact is, if the "Adobe suck-ups" that made tutorials made as many GIMP and BLENDER tutorials as they do for greed-machines like Adobe, then those better programs would soon over take them over as "Industry Standard".

It's all to do with marketing, and the publics perception of what is what.

I pointed out earlier that Photoshop is not the most popular 2D editor in the world, that award goes to GIMP.  You have never seen Adobe claim that Photoshop is the most popular in the word, because it isn't, GIMP is.  If Photoshop was the most popular in the world they'd be yelling it from the top of thier big greedy mouths, but as they're not in a position to do that (and never will be) they play on the "Industry Standard" thing instead, because that is the only thing that's holding them together, it's all they have to play on.  Take that "industry Standard" part out of Adobe and you're left with an outdated, buggy, overbearing, overpriced greed-machine and nothing more.

A big thumbs-up to you for learning GIMP, you'll feel better about it when it becomes industry standard, I know I will.

Regards proving myself with a business, I already have, three times, each of which succeded but I dropped willingly out of choice because in this country, you're effectively working to get sucked-dry again (and I didn't enjoy runing a business that much anyway).  I'd rather not run a business at all than run one in this country, especially after the changes made in recent years - screw em.  Like I said, as soon as I get out of here it'll be "all systems go" for me, but then again, that's assuming I want to do that.  I'll most likey run a business for a while, just enough to scrape by for the rest of my life, then drop it and chill, live simply.  I'm not interested in fancy cars, swimming pools and gold watches.

@David
Don't think I haven't observed your behaviour lately, and having a nice cleaveage doen't mean you won't get rectified ;-)

When I watch a tutorial, I generally have no problem with Photoshop being used to demonstrate something now and then (I do my best not to vomit).  But if I then watch another tutorial by the same producer, I expect some variety.  It's not unreasonable to see the most popular 2D editor in the world (GIMP) get used for the tutorial.  Nor is it unreasonable to expect to see Corel's editors get used, either.  But when a producer constantly suck-up to Adobe, they rightly get ignored.  I'm just not interested in learning that crap, and neither are the vast majority of people out there who are using the better programs (GIMP for example).

I don't care who are responsible for their tutorials, I would still have the same opinion if it were being demonstrated in soft focus by a bunch of naked nymphs.  Let me know when they start behaving in a fashion conductive to a healthy industry, then I just might take another look at their tutorials.

Until then, they can rabbit-away all they like, I won't be listening to any of it.

@Shane
You hit the nail on the head when you said you don't have to be on a magazine cover to do well, you just have to be good at what you do.  That's why the whole "Industy Standard" thing is a farce that needs to be ignored.