Robert Donovan wrote:
For me, I have to admit, that first getting employed in IT, Linux or otherwise, boiled down to being willing to knock on enough doors until I found somebody willing(sufficiently desperate?) to take a chance on a person with no experience.
The great thing about Linux is that there is absolutely no need to have no experience. When I got into Linux I ran my own web site, mailing list, and eventually an "ISP" (in parens because it was dial-in modem to SLIRP going out over a dialup PPP but it was the first IP connectivity/web/email of its kind in my small town) all on my own and I put that on my resume. And it worked.
I have A CCNA, and, of the many interviews I've done, it was only even mentioned in three of them and only made a difference in getting a job in one. After that, I worried less about certs and concentrated more on finding out what potential employers needed done and acquiring the needed skills to perform those tasks. Linux did get me in the door a lot because of its security, flexibility, and lower costs. The difficulties I keep running into with Linux are related to application functionaltiy. GNUCash, SQLedger, and Kompozer, for example, still can't compete effectively with Quicken, Quickbooks, and Dreamweaver.
This is why we must play to Linux's strengths until it catches up in those areas. Although I happen to think SQL-Ledger (and a fork of it, LedgerSMB) are pretty nice accounting products.
Since most non-computer people couldn't care less about whether Linux is a better OS than Windows, if Linux can't do all the things they are used to doing in Windows with very little transitional difficulty, it doesn't matter how many other things it can do that Windows can't, they will still tend to reject it.
They do seem to care about spending money though. I wish we could change peoples perceptions of the value of software because right now they are totally whacked.
I view this as the last hurdle to be overcome to make Linux a fully competitive replacement technology for Windows on all fronts. A
I'm just happy it is fully competitive on enough fronts to keep me happily employed for the forseeable future! And at a better average pay rate than the Windows guys get. Yeay!
And hardware support is now better than ever. Better than Vista. So it's definitely getting there. I read the news every day eager to see what cool new advances Linux has.
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