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Evangelizing OSS in the Caribbean
An anonymous reader writes "Here is an article on NewsForge regarding evangelizing OSS in the Caribbean. I'm wondering what others think of the impact efforts like this may have on software development jobs in the US. Is IT still a viable field to get into and if so will it last?"
I've got the perfect theme song: "No Windows, No Cry"
pasty-faced nerds roaming the streets of Kingston. I give 'em 5 minutes before they're robbed and hacked up with machetes.
Jah, mon! We got the bobsled team feelin' irie after jammin' on tuxracer a few times.
Besides, mon, lemme tell you -- after they said that Linux had superior rastability, we were sold.
"Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds." (Redemption Song)
Now the RIAA will start a campain against the OSS pirates in the Caribbeab.... oh, wait....
Hopefully the OSS revolution will help rid the world of the indignity caused by cruise ships filled with passengers buying trinkets.
As for the question of IT jobs. The software developing jobs will gradually fade into memory, but there is still a need for having IT skills, and there will continue to be jobs for network admins, data entry and report writers, etc.
The main goal of OSS is simply to end the idea of software development as a business. Software development is only one piece of the pie.
But back to third world evangelizing. Most US software companies have found out that they cannot afford serious OSS development. When the flaws of the revolution become apparent, it is natural to move to the third world.
The question is whether or not the natives have caught on to the double edge sword. Preaching free software and creating a world where software is only taken and not traded, then the third world nimrods who fall for the propaganda will find their software development skills worth less than the local trinket makers.
In someways I see this little Stalin-wannabe iconoclast preaching in the third world as the ultimate act of contempt. Giving your work away for free doesn't work in the first world. So you preach to the peasantry of the glories of the revolution to the third world.
It is a fun example of history repeating itself. The fearless leader preaches the glories of revolution to the peasantry knowing full well that the dictatorship of the prolitariat intends to pave the roads of their paradise with the blood of their followers.
...Guybrush Threepwood.
Honey, I shrunk the Cygwin
You IP address has been noted and the OSS Inquisition has been dispatched. Slowly step away from the computer and place your hands above your head.
You will be assim....errrr...not be harmed.
Thank you for your cooperation.
People who bite the hand that feeds them usually lick the boot that kicks them
It's up to me to make my self relevant to US employers and I have found that the easiest way is through being in management...You can't make an impact or change the world if you are locked in cube coding our trapped behind 15 miles of cable in a server room.
Thank you, from the bottom of my cube-locked heart. If it weren't for folks like you, who would make all the outsourcing and layoff decisions?
Then you are using it and not developing it. Is this really so difficult to understand.
I know there are I.T. companies that solve todays problems sometimg in the future, maybe but the poorer the environment the less that can be tolerated.
That was exactly my point. OSS is not going to be a savior. Trying to develop your own software isn't neccesesarily going to save anyones economy and in some cases could do serious damange. And in response to the topic question, No its not going to have much effect on the overall I.T. market unless you had a lot of sales to people that can't afford to buy your product.