We urgently need to differentiate between "Open Source" and "Making
Money".
Both are Good and not at all mutually exclusive.
The "spam" flood has been so bad, we have over reacted and tossed a
couple of babies out with that vast smelly tub of spam bath water.
On Sun, 23 Mar 2008, Christopher Sawtell wrote:
Whilst such postings are very useful to some folk, and I include
myself, I do appreciate that for others they are doubtless totally
O.T. and an unwanted intrusion. Therefore I think we should to try to
establish a consensus as to what commercial posts are within an
Acceptable Use Policy.
I think advancing the use of Linux in Canterbury is very much in the
scope of this list.
While technically and ethically our beloved OS is superb....
Most jobs are (at least until the company dies) are in supporting the
least productive technology. Really productive things like Linux just
works.
External political / regulatory and commercial factors usually
dominate over technical excellence, keeping Companies that make Bad
tech choices stay alive far longer than you'd expect.
Thus it's a lot harder to make a living from our knowledge and use of
Linux than it should be.
Canterbury is a fantastic place to live and work. I live for the
mountains, rivers and the sea. But the high-tech job market here, on
the global scale of things, is minuscule and fragile. (Having lived
and worked in a metropolis with twice the population of all of NZ, I'm
deadly serious about that.)
So personally I am greatly in favour making it easier for people to
earn an honest living from Linux in Canterbury.
Note the keywords there... "Earn", "Honest", "Linux" and "Canterbury".
What makes spam evil is spammers violate one or more of those keywords....
Most spam authors seek to gain money without earning it, often by
dishonest and unethical means. Not "Earned", not "Honest".
Their messages have nothing to do with the topic Linux.
I don't mind a trickle of paper flyers in my mailbox from local
businesses offering goods and services. I know the cost of printing
and distributing ensures the quantities are limited, and hence truly
"local". ie. I'm quite likely to have dealt with those companies
anyway.
A major point where "spam" goes wrong is it is essentially free to
distribute to anywhere... thus far too high quantities swamp your
mailbox, the vast majority from companies so remote that it would
never be cost effective to deal with them anyway.
Personally I'd find it pleasing to exist in a healthy, local
commercial Linux ecosystem. It gives me a warm fuzzy sense of having
options and living / working in a community.
Such a Good local environment should generate a strong buzz of
messages (preferably suitably subject line tagged so I can ignore if I
choose) on such topics as...
a) Jobs in Canterbury requiring knowledge of / developing in Linux.
b) People in or with firm plans to move to Canterbury with Linux
knowledge seeking employment in Canterbury. (The class of "Seeking
Job" post I detest is.. "I know nothing, does anybody anywhere in
the world want to employ me?")
c) People providing Linux based hosting, development and/or
support. (Preferable in a monthly digest or directory format, with
separate announcements of new products / services.)
d) People adding value to Linux.
eg. Selling and supporting computers with Linux preinstalled (as
opposed to general PC sales with bundled Bad
Attitude... "Installing Linux invalidates our hardware
guarantee.")
eg. Announcement of "Linux Supported" peripherals for available for
immediate sale _physically_ in _local_ stores. eg. I've seen some
Dick Smiths stuff formally declaring support for Linux.
What I wouldn't want is local stores advertising every possibly Linux
supported product on the planet, that they might, maybe, get in if
you order it.
e) Generating buzz around Linux... unless there is buzz, the Pointy
Haired Bosses and bean counters don't believe...
For example, a commercial press releases like...
http://www.bluewatersys.com/design/consulting/doc/appdev/example.php
would be interesting to me.
Again the keywords here are "Earn", "Honest", "Local" and "Linux"
John Carter Phone : (64)(3) 358 6639
Tait Electronics Fax : (64)(3) 359 4632
PO Box 1645 Christchurch Email : [EMAIL PROTECTED]
New Zealand
