Hello Orly,
Thanks for not talking behind my back. It's time to break that
you-talk-behind-my-back-I-talk-behind-yours cycle.
> I think Bluepoint looks out to prove itself to be the pre-eminent Linux
> company in the country. Their web site says as much.
Bluepoint is not a company and is not just about Linux. We are a non-profit
organization trying to bring computing to the countryside. It just so
happens that Linux is the best technology for doing so. We hold classes,
albeit incidentally, because donations and grants alone cannot sustain our
operations.
> I think Engels is associating PLUG with Q-Linux
I am not associating PLUG with Q-Linux. The guys that my former student
complained about in the post that started this thread were *from* Q-Linux
and are *members* of PLUG. See the difference?
> I think Engels is associating PLUG with Q-Linux, which he rightly sees as
a competitor to
> him. But PLUG ain't Q-Linux.
Um, a competitor to me? *I* am not Bluepoint. I'm not even going to be with
Bluepoint in a few month's time, let alone work with Linux and Open
Source-related stuff for quite a while. Bluepoint and Q-Linux may indeed be
competitors since they *may* be the only organizations currently offering
Linux training in our country. However, it is quite unfair to say that *I*
see Q-Linux as a competitor to *myself* especially since I *don't* get
anything from Bluepoint.
I'm not even sure if there's direct competition since Bluepoint focuses on
the government, NGO, and educational sectors. I'm not too familiar with
Q-Linux's thrust, but it seems like they go for the corporate accounts. I
could be wrong though.
> I for one am glad Q-Linux has taken the trouble to host all these neat-o
> mailing lists, since I've *never* given anything to Q-Linux and in spite
Could this possibly be the reason why you thought that I was associating
PLUG with Q-Linux?
> of all the flyers they sent to us [Mozcom] we're not gonna hire 'em to do
training. =)
I'm not privy as to exactly how my colleagues market our courses, so I can't
comment on the flyers. Last time I checked, however, Bluepoint was going for
the academic and government sectors. We believe that ISPs like Mozcom do not
need our training and may possibly know more than what we have to offer.
Trying to woo them to enroll will only exhaust our already limited
resources.
> The way *I* see it, Bluepoint and Company believe they have enough
> expertise in-house to NOT deal with PLUG, and more importantly, with all
I respect your opinion Orly, and I thank you for being honest about it. To
deal or not to deal with PLUG is not my call, even if I'm currently chair of
the board. However, note that we do have students from PLUG and teachers
from PLUG.
> the trouble they've taken to line up Important Characters on their board,
> they mean serious business! but PLUG isn't about business. At least for me
> it isn't.
Believe it or not, Bluepoint isn't about business either. From day one until
the end of this month, Bluepoint loses P9,000 per student because we
subsidize them whether or not we are able to obtain *funding* from external
sources. Most of the time, the directors and members chip in to cover basic
expenses such as electricity and Internet connectivity. Contrary to what it
may seem, Bluepoint is not making money :-(
The only "prominent" figure on our board is Mari Kaimo, who's only there
because he likes what we're trying to do. We are all volunteers at
Bluepoint, Orly. We don't get anything for being board members. Wala kaming
suweldo. We can leave the foundation if we can no longer afford to stay. The
other "important members" you may have had in mind, they were *invited*
because they have the capability to effect change faster than we, on our
own, could. Case in point: Sen. Magsaysay is there because he can legislate
incentives for using Open Source technologies. Sen. Salonga is there because
he can refer us to the appropriate funding agencies, although he himself has
given so much in terms of financial, moral, and legal support.
> When money (and ego) become involved in any enterprise, things get ugly.
Agree. This is the reason why we shifted from a for-profit company to a
non-profit foundation. So that things don't get ugly, so that we can
concentrate on our work, so that we know who's in it for the money and who's
in it for the love of it.
> And I believe there's a lot of ego and probably money in there somewhere.
Disagree. If this were true, it would have had been uglier the last time
around. If you are referring to may angry post, it's what it was - a very
angry post. As for money, I think I already covered that earlier.
> Definitely lots of self-interest, that goes without saying.
To each his own. I cannot force you to change your mind, nor will I try to.
I just wanted you to hear our side. As I told Ian Sison earlier, I'm tired
of exchanging blows with PLUG. I hope that this clears the air one last
time.
Regards,
Engels
-
Engels Antonio
Bluepoint Institute of Higher Technology Foundation
http://www.bluepoint.com.ph/buhawi/
--------------------------------------------
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I don't fear Purgatory -- I administer AIX.
And I don't fear Hell -- I administer Linux.
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