The Linux Foundation has just launched a series of webinars that are free to the public. The press release can be found here.
The best part of these webinars, besides them being free of charge, is that they are being led by multiple luminaries in the open source community. Not too often can you go get a refresher on Linux Performance Tuning by someone like Ted Ts'o. Therefore, I credit the Linux Foundation with putting forth a list of talented individuals to educate more of the public on certain topics in open source software.
I am sure that the goal is to get people interested in taking part in the training programs that they offer. Whether that be the case or not, and it would not be a bad idea if it was, it is good that they are providing this wealth of knowledge back to the community. There is always a need for talented open source developers, no matter the economic situation. The more that are available will just continue to lead to more adoption throughout the world.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Interesting Article on India's Contribution to Open Source
Sam Varghese of ITWire writes an interesting blog piece about India's contributions to open source. You can find it here. His claim is that given the amount of engineering talent that exists in India, it does not necessarily translate into meaningful contributions to open source software.
He makes a valid point to some extent, but at the same time I believe it is important to look at the entire picture. We get inundated with resumes from India on a daily basis. And, as the years have passed, there is no question that the talent level, as it relates to open source, continues to get better and better.
However, the most important point is that some of the best open source engineers from India tend to make their way over here. They generally will latch onto some consulting firm that will provide them with visa sponsorship, and then they start working on a project for a company in the United States. That is of course if they could not go directly to a technology company, which proved somewhat difficult during the economic growth years due to the consulting firms snatching up a lot of the visa allotment. But, I digress. Unfortunately for these engineers, some of the projects they get put on are not always relevant to their open source skills. Luckily, there are a number of companies that are willing to transfer an existing visa, and thus it gives them entry back into the world of open source if they have had to deviate from it for a short period of time. This has happened time and time again throughout the years.
Perhaps you do not always see the contributions in open source made by engineers from India, but that does not necessarily mean they are not happening. A large portion of the engineers we work with are from Indian decent, and their impact in open source software will be meaningful for years to come.
He makes a valid point to some extent, but at the same time I believe it is important to look at the entire picture. We get inundated with resumes from India on a daily basis. And, as the years have passed, there is no question that the talent level, as it relates to open source, continues to get better and better.
However, the most important point is that some of the best open source engineers from India tend to make their way over here. They generally will latch onto some consulting firm that will provide them with visa sponsorship, and then they start working on a project for a company in the United States. That is of course if they could not go directly to a technology company, which proved somewhat difficult during the economic growth years due to the consulting firms snatching up a lot of the visa allotment. But, I digress. Unfortunately for these engineers, some of the projects they get put on are not always relevant to their open source skills. Luckily, there are a number of companies that are willing to transfer an existing visa, and thus it gives them entry back into the world of open source if they have had to deviate from it for a short period of time. This has happened time and time again throughout the years.
Perhaps you do not always see the contributions in open source made by engineers from India, but that does not necessarily mean they are not happening. A large portion of the engineers we work with are from Indian decent, and their impact in open source software will be meaningful for years to come.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Linux.com Launches Job Board
It appears that Linux.com has launched a job board on their site. The press release can be found on Linux Today here .
I believe they have had their jobs section for a little bit of time (could be wrong), but it appears they are either relaunching this or putting more effort into it by utilizing the JobThread Network. It is a very interesting concept in the sense that you end up paying $.49 for each matching view.
It will be interesting to see how this does. As has been the case, the number of open source positions continues to increase. Perhaps they will be able to take advantage of this situation.
I believe they have had their jobs section for a little bit of time (could be wrong), but it appears they are either relaunching this or putting more effort into it by utilizing the JobThread Network. It is a very interesting concept in the sense that you end up paying $.49 for each matching view.
It will be interesting to see how this does. As has been the case, the number of open source positions continues to increase. Perhaps they will be able to take advantage of this situation.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Open Source Skills Earn You More Money
An article on CIO Update summarizes a study by Elance on technical skills that are in high demand, and thus results in higher compensation for those developers. PHP and MySQL stand out as two open source based software projects that receive high praise from the study. Good sign going into 2010!
Friday, December 18, 2009
Will Developers Leave Oracle Over Sun Deal?
There has been a lot of debate recently, especially in the European Union by the European Commission, as to whether or not to give the stamp of approval to the pending acquisition of Sun Microsystems by Oracle. The controversy is centered around MySQL. Being that Oracle is a database company with an established product that provides them with healthy margins, why would they put forth the effort to make sure that MySQL continues its success? As always, arguments abound at nearly every angle. And, I am not going to put in my two cents on this.
However, IF they slowly derail MySQL, as many fear, what will be the outcome? Will it be the second coming of the Novell/Microsoft partnership fallout? As many probably remember, since it was not that long ago, there were some negative effects for Novell after signing the partnership with Microsoft. Most notably, Jeremy Allison, among others, decided that he preferred to be an employee of another company as a result of the agreement.
Oracle employs a number of open source developers. And, their contributions to the Linux kernel should not go unnoticed. For all intents and purposes, they have been a fine open source citizen. But, if the acquisition is eventually approved and there is a slow demise of MySQL, will some of the open source developers at Oracle take umbrage and leave?
It will be very interesting to see how this plays out. Open source developers historically have been very true to their beliefs. And, as we have more and more proprietary companies intertwining themselves with open source derived entities, the landscape gets murky. Perhaps it is something that Oracle should give a thought to as they proceed. They may have done so already. Who knows? But, at the end of the day, a company is only as good as its employees. The thought of an exodus by developers is a real threat for these companies and is one of the great nuances of working in the open source software space.
I would thoroughly enjoy hearing peoples opinion on this. I know it is a touchy subject matter, but one that has potentially damaging ramifications for a company that is not cognizant of the feelings of its own developers.
However, IF they slowly derail MySQL, as many fear, what will be the outcome? Will it be the second coming of the Novell/Microsoft partnership fallout? As many probably remember, since it was not that long ago, there were some negative effects for Novell after signing the partnership with Microsoft. Most notably, Jeremy Allison, among others, decided that he preferred to be an employee of another company as a result of the agreement.
Oracle employs a number of open source developers. And, their contributions to the Linux kernel should not go unnoticed. For all intents and purposes, they have been a fine open source citizen. But, if the acquisition is eventually approved and there is a slow demise of MySQL, will some of the open source developers at Oracle take umbrage and leave?
It will be very interesting to see how this plays out. Open source developers historically have been very true to their beliefs. And, as we have more and more proprietary companies intertwining themselves with open source derived entities, the landscape gets murky. Perhaps it is something that Oracle should give a thought to as they proceed. They may have done so already. Who knows? But, at the end of the day, a company is only as good as its employees. The thought of an exodus by developers is a real threat for these companies and is one of the great nuances of working in the open source software space.
I would thoroughly enjoy hearing peoples opinion on this. I know it is a touchy subject matter, but one that has potentially damaging ramifications for a company that is not cognizant of the feelings of its own developers.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Another Mention of Open Source Skills Being "Hot"
Another firm doing a study, in this case Foote Partners, has revealed that an engineer possessing open source skills is poised for a bright future. This blog posting by Ann All summarizes it nicely. Overall, the discussion is about the change in staffing patterns moving forward as a result of companies making more and more of their operations automated, thus eliminating some positions that existed in the past.
As depressing as that may appear at first, she goes on to mention that open source operating systems is a bright spot. I think it would be fair to say that more than just the os is in a good position. For instance, she summarizes that social media continues to gain strength. Within that, Python is one of the standouts among an array of more proprietary based software. However, last time I looked, Facebook is the largest social media site in existence. And, PHP is the main language used for that site to my knowledge. Therefore, PHP should get a mention, as well as Ruby on Rails.
Needless to say, it always is nice to see more and more studies realize the importance open source software continues to play in corporate environments. Thus, the number of positions continues to rise. Here's to the trend continuing as we embark on a new decade!
As depressing as that may appear at first, she goes on to mention that open source operating systems is a bright spot. I think it would be fair to say that more than just the os is in a good position. For instance, she summarizes that social media continues to gain strength. Within that, Python is one of the standouts among an array of more proprietary based software. However, last time I looked, Facebook is the largest social media site in existence. And, PHP is the main language used for that site to my knowledge. Therefore, PHP should get a mention, as well as Ruby on Rails.
Needless to say, it always is nice to see more and more studies realize the importance open source software continues to play in corporate environments. Thus, the number of positions continues to rise. Here's to the trend continuing as we embark on a new decade!
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Article on Linux.com
Once again, a little self promotion here. Linux.com has published a new article that I wrote about where we have been and where we are going, in regards to the labor market for open source software professionals. Hope you enjoy it. If you have any questions about it, please feel free to contact me.
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