VA on Upside

wendell wrote in to send us an interesting little article about VA Linux Systems and how the Linux companies are hiring major free software developers.

Comments

We knew!

[ijw]

I talked to a VA salesman, formerly of Corel, who had sold us many Netwinders, and he told me about all the top engineers (San Mehat eg) from Corel who jumped to VA. He mentioned some secret hires, notably "a prominent Australian Linux guru", nuff said.

They like VA. So do I, especially when they get some laptops!

ira

Corporate Violation

[dface]

A nice article overall... I just have some comments on Corporations...

I like the idea that all these powerplayers are getting totally immersed in linux development. That can only serve to better the community. However, I think these companies need to make sure that their employees work well together as a team. I don't think there needs to be a distinction between team players and superstars. A person can be both.

Also, I'm a tad bit skeptical on having total linux development go into the hands of a corporation. I suppose I'm a bit of a Stallmanist. I feel that Linux definately needs to remain a community oriented project. So far it's going well. But as we dawn a new era of Linux development, I feel it's key to remain non-corporate.

Re:Corporate Violation

[chrisd]

We have the same debates here too, to wit:

Will the influences of companies, even hard core linux companies like VA, cause the creative spirit behind linux and it's advances to die a death of ennui?

We , obviously, hope the answer is no, and we have taken the course of hiring coding gods like mandrake and mark and such as a way of sort of building a hot house of linux development, we think that any negatives that may be imposed in a corporate setting (which we have done our best to minimize) are more than made up by the proximity (yes phyiscal, and yes, I know about IRC :-) of other, well, brilliant linux hackers.

We also think that by having these guys work full time on Linux results in ,well, more Linux. I mean I think we can all agree that Linux has come an amazing distance with what amounts to as spare and part time work, so imagine what it will be like with people working full time.

Anyhow, enough philosophy, back to coding.

Chris DiBona

VA Linux Systems

--
Grant Chair, Linux Int.
VP, SVLUG

Working on Linux for a living

[Caballero]

I left Digital Domain because I had the opportunity to do good work for Linux on something I cared about (3D support). That was my motivation.

I did my job hunting at Linux World. I picked a few key people and companies that I wanted to talk to and mentioned that I was thinking of moving on. The response I got was extremely positive.

I knew I could have my pick, so I took my time and decided what was important to me. I wasn't concerned about the money. I knew all the companies would offer me "enough." I was looking for where I could do the most good, and have the most fun doing it.

For what I wanted to do Precision Insight had the right mix. I get to work from home. They are leading the charge in 3D. It's a great group of people that would have been difficult to assemble in one place.

So, I'm very pleased with how it all worked out. I get what I want and Linux moves forward in the process.

- |Daryll

Ouch, reading with threshold=-1 make brain hurt

[spun]

If I wasn't a longtime /. reader, I would swear that Microsoft's "Anti Linux Squad" had come up with the clever tactic of joining Linux communities & disrupting them with idiotic, vitriolic rants, and attempts to turn people against each other. Of course I've been reading /. since way before Linux showed up on MS radar screens, so I know that's just how people act 'round these parts. Still, it's something to think about, like how it turns out half the Black Panther members were really CIA or FBI agents. Maybe MS is "tryin' kill da movement with da new COINTELPRO," to quote The Coup.

So listen up, if you really are a part of the 'Linux Revolution,' put aside the ego and the petty jealousy and take a civil tone when you write, especially if you are mad about something. A calm tone will get you much further than the cleverest irate rant will.

And writing better code will take you further than that.

The game of money

[Jonas �berg]

While there's some similarities between whats happening in the free software community and the NBA (or whatever), there's also some things that just aren't the same at all. For example, you could look at the money involved in hiring someone. In the free software community in general, people pay more attention to the work itself and other benefits instead of to their paycheck.

I know I've posted this before, but you really should check out ``Studies Find Reward Often No Motivator''.
One of the conclusions of that article is that if money is seen as a reason for doing something, that task will suddenly become less interesting to do. I can't even remember the last time I did something for money; it's just too hard a struggle to become motivated to do something that doesn't interest you, even if the reward is money so you can live for another year.

Thats not saying that you can NOT pay a hacker a good salary though; just that it's not the most important thing. When it comes to money, the importance is that you get enough money so that you can pay your rent, food and buy some interesting toys to play with on your spare time (if you have any). Once that goal is reached, the next issue is about what kind of tasks that the work would involve. I tend to think that hackers are more agressive in this area because many of them often have a very well laid out idea of what they want to do and they'd rather be unemployed than be forced to go out of their way to fit into the company.

Hackers are an easy prey. If someone came to me and asked me if I'd like to for VA, I'm pretty sure I'd jump on that train. The reasons should be obvious; these companies create an athmosphere much like that of the Homebrew Computer Club and other similar organisations, such as all local Linux-based clubs. Being in such an athmosphere is in itself very motivating and interesting and I'd recommend it to anyone out there who gets the chance.