Yves Dorfsman <[email protected]> writes:

> For technical writing and programing, most companies (and governments 
> agencies) are asking for samples of work. The problem is, all my best and 
> most extensive work has been done at customer sites and they typically won't 
> agree to let you take samples, they are typically worried about 
> confidentiality issues.

but sometimes they do.  Ask.  I've had pretty good luck asking if I can
make public diffs of my changes against open-source programs.  (but then,
I do SysAdmin programming;  twiddle a few bits to make the UIDLs the
same when we migrate mailservers, etc... usually nothing to do with 'core
business')  

As for documentation,  well, again, most of what I write is generic
stuff on how to use some common open-source application.  I bring a lot
of my own documentation in to the client site, but generally, I 
don't take it back out.  Certainly, I take what I learned and write up
new stuff on that, but my writing is very, ah, iterative, so I think
it benifits from a rewrite.  Also, I just don't do my best work at the
client site.  Sitting in a cloth box surrounded by people who are speaking
(and often being quite wrong on technical issues)  is quite distracting.
It is so hard not to be the asshole who keeps jumping into other conversations
and correcting people.  


But yeah, it's usually ok to write about a technology if you don't write about
the client.  Generalizing makes your writing more useful, anyhow.  

-- 
Luke S. Crawford
http://prgmr.com/xen/  -   Hosting for the technically adept
                           We don't assume you are stupid.  
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