[olug] Hello all!

[Mike Hostetler]

There are tons of little startups around town.  Most of them are
documented/interviewed at :
http://www.siliconprairienews.com/

I can't imagine that all of them (or any of them) couldn't use any IT help.

Heck, crash BarCamp tomorrow, network, make some friends, and maybe you can
make some $$$
http://barcampomaha.org/



On Fri, Oct 2, 2009 at 9:02 PM, Dan Anderson <dan-anderson at cox.net> wrote:

> Lets see, a bunch of unemployed IT people* with various marketable
> skills...
>
> You should band together and start a company not just roving packs of
> Linux advocates.
>
> When was your opportunity cost $0 last?
>
> When do you think it will be as affordable again?
>
> Get together, brainstorm some ideas, determine which skills are
> available and which ideas seem marketable, buy a cricket phone, some
> budget web hosting, a free-checking account and print some flyers - if
> nothing else, how about "on-call" support for smaller businesses? (a
> chronically under served market)
>
> SNORT
> OpenOffice
> MySQL
> Asterisk
> Nessus
> Metasploit
> Open Source POS
> OpenBox
> VMWare - not free, but still
> Web Development (LAMP, etc)
> OpenVPN
> Training (you can probably get rooms at the libraries or community
> centers if nowhere else - 20 people learning about internet safety
> (,facebook privacy, customizing firefox, using metasploit, installing
> MythTV, using linux, setting up tomcat, certification preparation,
> etc) for $50/person is still $1000 and you just met 20 people who
> consider you an expert - its like being paid to network)
>
> Depending on your available skills there are a lot of possibilities.
>
> Like Dynatron says, charge less, there might not be a lot of work at
> $100/hour, but since you are making $0/hr now you can afford to work
> for $20-30/hr.
>
> And in a "belt and suspenders" way, this may also help your networking
> since you might find a new job if someone decides they like you enough
> to keep you.  If nothing else you can at least do this while you are
> looking for work.
>
> Recessions suck, but lots of businesses get their start in them.
>
> If you need a first customer let me know - I might be willing to pay
> someone $100 or so to set me up with a nice MythTV/DVD "jukebox"
> (which has been on my todo list for about 5 years and the wife is
> starting to think I'll never get to it.)
>
> *AKA independent contractors :)
>
> Dan
>
> On Fri, Oct 2, 2009 at 5:19 PM, DYNATRON tech <dynatron at gmail.com> wrote:
> > OLUGgers are here to help as far as ideas, but the IT crowd is hurting
> for
> > work right now, so it's gonna be tough getting corporate employment doing
> > IT, even talking to the right people.
> >
> > with so many "jobless" brains out there, maybe we should organize some
> kind
> > of open-source "expert squad".
> > charge less, push open-source, liberate the masses, etc.
> >
> > most people would hire an expert before a geek any day.
> > ...especially if that expert could tell you with confidence that you'll
> > never get another computer virus...
> >
> > i walk into a place with an ubuntu disc, and an hour or two later walk
> out
> > with 50$ while saving the customer $100s (and a lot of headaches).
> > that's been my preferred MO lately.
> > linux is ready for prime-time, and i can verify that with the daily
> "thank
> > you"s i get for pushing it.
> > i'm expecting (and hoping) the next ubuntu release will take the movement
> > mainstream.
> >
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-- 
Mike Hostetler
http://mike.hostetlerhome.com/