Should the BLU help its members find jobs?

[bhorne at banet.net (Bill Horne)]

Christoph wrote:
> 
> Rich Braun wrote:
> > In another thread, Christoph wrote:
> > > I did not know that BLU was an acronym for LinuxPimp.com...
> > > And no, the DNS name is not in use yet...
> >
> > I take it that job-seekers and employers-seeking-help aren't welcome in
> > your inbox?
> >
> 
> I've always considered my inbox open to many alternative mail-styles...
> But we can't just let anyone post what they want here.  Pretty soon, we'll
> have shaddy hackers selling OS's in brown paper bags and pimping little
> baby beowolf clusters to dirty old NT executives...
> 
> Is that the kind of world you want to live in?
> 
> +------------------------
> | christoph
> | linuxguy at ici.net
> | http://home.ici.net/~linuxguy
> 

To the group:

I think there are two questions here, and I'll state them in this way -

1.  Should the BLU be willing to help its members use their Linux skills 
    in the commercial world?  In other words, can we be a union or a
guild 
    while remaining a club?

2.  Should we allow members to advertise their talents on the server? 

I vote yes to both (although a separate list may be appropriate).

The bad news: Linux is, as we have all discovered the hard way, an
extremely 
capable, but also very demanding, operating system.  What we're doing
here
is "old world" computing - no plug 'n pray, no point 'n drool, and few 
tools to make programming, integration, version control, documentation,
or 
productivity measurement easier or faster.  The work I've put into
learning
it has already exceeded what I learned in order to write device drivers
for EBCD
printers running under CP/M - and I still know very little.  I do it
because I 
like it, as I assume the other memebers also do.

The good news is that we also don't have to suffer marketdroids
demanding 
that we wave a dead chicken over the code so they can make their ship
date 
and buy their next yaught and go looking for the next geek with the next 
killer app so they can make their next fortune.  

Been there, done that, don't want to go back.  The "hobby" aspect of
Linux 
allows us all to find whatever level we're comfortable with, and
allocate 
as much time/energy/resources as our personal choices require.

The question, then, is whether we can help each other to put all this
effort 
to practical use without compromising the (implied but never expressed)
ideal of 
open source software:  that ONLY the best code should win.  Or to put no
fine point
in it, if we can help each other while staying pure - and the answer is
"no", 
and that's OK.

There is an old story about two hikers (sorry if you've heard this one)
whom are
suddenly confronted with a rabid bear that they know (instinctively)
will attack
them.  One of them shucks of his pack, cuts the laces of his boots, and
slips into
running shoes in a matter of a few seconds, while the other stares in
amazement
and gasps "You can't outrun that bear!".

His competitor replies:  "I just have to outrun you."

Consider what a union or guild does:  it exacts a minimum standard of
performance from
its members, runs a training (apprenticeship) program, represents its
members
to potential employers, and (in the case of a guild) attempts to prevent
non-members
from competing for jobs in their craft.  We don't need to do anything
even close
to that in order to help each other - but I mention this "traditional"
kind
of organization to encourage discussion about what we *can* do.

We *can* do a lot:  run a training program, hold examinations, grant
certificates
of competence in essential areas, and even maintain a applicant pool for
those
employers that need proven expertise in a hurry.  All the major
corporations of the 
software world do it, and they make money doing it.  For example, I am a
Certified
NetWare Engineer, versed in all the quirks of Novell NetWare 3.12.  I
attended 
school for five months, took seven (amazingly hard) examinations, and
received
a lapel pin and certificate that still hangs on my office wall.

The fact that my employer paid for the training is immaterial to
Novell:  they 
cashed the check, I took the exams, got hired into a much better job,
and 
everybody won.  In like manner, Microsoft, Lotus, Banyan, and Oracle all
run
Certification programs for technical users, and jealously guard the
resulting
certificates as corporate trademarks.

You see, employers aren't looking for those that know *everything* or
whom can
do *everything*.  In fact, any savvy manager knows that he can't depend
too much
on any one employee.  He's not looking to outrun the bear - JUST THE
SLOWEST 
COMPETITOR.

Even without such a formal program, I think we need to share leads with
each 
other, trade information on which employers are good and which are
sleezy, 
and even pass judgement on the competence of individuals whom are
seeking leads.

(asbestos long johns firmly in place) 

I have attended corporate meetings in which so called "experts" assured
upper
management that "nineteen-two" lines are faster than "one point fives",
or
where middle managers blithly state that mission-critical application
(some,
literally, where lives are at stake) should be switched to NT because
"that's the 
way everybody's going".  I personally know of persons whom were hired
into
jobs I had applied for, after claiming credentials I had and they did
not. 

I have seen how networks of incompetent people can make a very good
living 
by mouthing buzzwords, practising spin-control, and backstabbing anyone
whom 
says the emperor has no clothes.  

Don't take my word for it:  if you're employed by a major corporation,
you
know this kind of behavior is routine.  If not, you'll find out the hard
way.  Neutrality is NOT an option here:  we all have to make a living,
and notions of
innocence or purity are best left to young children and God's chosen
ones.

That's how the "real world" works:  people help each other so that they
can look
good and feed their families and put away something for the future while
still
getting home in time for supper.  I think we should too:  why not
compete at
something we like doing, where the field is so OBVIOUSLY open? It's not
100% 
OSS "pure", but trust me: even we computer geeks lose our virginity
sooner 
or later.

Now, before your troll-o-meter goes off the scale, I'll admit to playing
devil's advocate here.  Someone has to, and who better than an old
campaigner
with scars to show?  I don't have anything to prove, and am not looking
for
a job, so I'm as neutral as needed for this discussion.

So the question is:  should the BLU play the game, or just watch?  

Voltaire's advice comes to mind:  "It is the curse of the voyeur to 
remain forever unsatisfied".

Bill ("Damn, this asbestos itches") Horne
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