Mike,
Fortunately, like so many other things in the Linux world, others have
already encountered and addressed the dillema, and we have their
observations as well--
According to the "User-Group-HOWTO":
> The line between support requests that need a consultant and those
> that do not is sometimes indistinct; but in most cases the difference
> is clear. While a local LUG doesn't want to gain the reputation for
> pawning new users off unnecessarily on consultants--as this is simply
> rude and very anti-Linux behavior--there is no reason for LUGs not to
> help broker contacts between the users who need consulting services
> and the professionals who offer them.
I agree with Seth, that whoever gives his time and talent will be
rewarded with others' attention. Even the complete newbies have
something to offer; they are (or ought to be) more sympathetic to other
new users.
When I went to the PLUG group last November, I thought it was odd that
the presentation was much more commercial than I expected. The main
program was a sales pitch for wireless internet service, followed by
a discussion that was probably much more technical than would occur at
the typical sales presentation. It was informative and beneficial for
everyone to hear the questions and answers of professionals and of
non-professional users.
Ralph
At 01:07 PM 2/24/00 -0800, "Smith, Mike" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>Hallo all---
>
>I have a topic that I would like to address, one that affects us all.
>
>It concerns commercial interests in the LUG.
>
>The reason that this came up is that I met a guy at the Demo Day who runs an
>e-commerce company here in Eugene, and they use Linux, even chose Linux as
>their OS of choice. Tonight he's coming to the meeting to talk to me about
>a sysad position or some other kind of business arrangement. It is my
>understanding that he might be looking to making contacts in the LUG for
>potential employees or contractors, most likely involving Perl, PHP, or HTML
>skills.
>
>The problem is, I want to know how everyone feels about this. As Linux is
>coming more and more into businesses, we need to define how the LUG fits
>into this scenario.
>
>I offer the following thoughts:
>
>1) We are a NON-profit organization dedicated to the spread of Linux.
>
>2) There is a marked difference between posting a job from the R-G want-ads
>and posting a job that you have a personal interest in. For example, you
>would be the supervisor of the position, or would be the one making the
>hiring decision.
>
>3) I would hate to see us become a bunch of money-hungry savages or
>mercenaries at the expense of Linux Advocacy or our usual activities.
>
>4) We are the natural point-of-contact for someone who needs to network for
>jobs. Almost all good jobs are from networking (of the people kind of
>networking, not the usual kind of networking). I've even done it on
>occasion.
>
>5) If you are looking for local Linux IT professionals, where do you look?
>At the LUG, naturally. We make a great place for an employer to look for
>help.
>
>6) How does our tech support model fit into the picture? We give out free
>advice on the mail list, how does everyone feel about giving free advice to
>someone who gets paid to do Linux stuff? Or another way, how do you feel
>about giving free information to somebody who's getting paid to get that
>information?
>
>7) What if someone on a Thursday brings in a box from their workplace to
>get "fixed" when they are a professional?
>
>8) If we become too fixated on jobs and money, will that turn off potential
>members or newbies?
>
>9) Many LUG members are professionals. Some, like Seth for example, spend
>alot of time doing pro-bono work at the LUG. I know he's very cool about it
>all and actually learns something (so he claims) at every meeting, but it's
>not too hard to envision someone refusing to do freebies when their normal
>rate for contracting is $50/hour.
>
>I see us gaining alot of visibility, and with that comes changes in how we
>do things. I would like to encourage a discussion on this, and maybe even
>see how other LUG's handle these issues. This is a very grey area, but I
>think that intent has alot to do with it. I also believe that the best
>policy might be to give everyone the benefit of the doubt when it comes to
>questions of ethics. I think most of us are pretty rational people who can
>handle whatever happens.
>
>I wrote this at work, so won't be able to read replies until after the
>meeting tonight. Maybe everyone will have a big suprise for me tonight. I
>just hope my life insurance policy covers acts of crazed Linux users. If I
>have already pissed somebody off by meeting this guy at the meeting, I would
>like to apologize beforehand.
>
>Questions, comments, or war stories????
>
>Whew, that's alot of typing.
>
>--Mike
>Michael J. Smith
>Flyfisher, Russian Translator, and Linux-Geek-At-Large
>
