"As for being standard, cpio is way more standard than tar.gz - there's still commercial Unices that are shipped without gnu tar or gzip."
Our DEC Alphas here at work don't have gzip; neither does Solaris (although I haven't checked the new Solaris 7 distro yet). What an odd omission. Anyone know why they don't include it?
salary = experience + proven value
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My beef with consultants is, from what I've experienced, they're better at talking then they are about doing. They're fast at the keyboard but you often have to fix or undo everything you paid them to do -- if they ever finish the project at all.
Not all consultants are like that. I'm not. I know a lot and I deliver a lot. Sure, there are consultants out there who do it because they can't hold down a real job for an extended period of time, because they can't stand the long-term scrutiny of their work - they bail before they can be evaluated.
I consult (I'm a contractor) for two reasons, the first being $$money$$. I make $30,000 - $40,000 more a year than if I was a salaried employee - and I only work 40 hour weeks. If I work more, I get paid more. What do I give up? Benefits, 401K, and stock. I have my own, thank you, and they cost me way less than $30,000 a year (I figure on $5,000 with retirement savings). And I give up 'security'. What a joke. At least my relationship with my employer is honest. It's like a hooker/john relationship. I'm the hooker, I get paid well for what I do, and they can dump me whenever they want. Companies don't take care of their permanent employees too well nowadays, so who cares if I lose my job? I'll get another one next week.
The second reason I consult is that I like the changing atmospheres. I fulfill the terms of a contract, and if I want to leave, I leave.
I like the lifestyle, I like the money, and I'm not doing it to hide behind management reports and crappy work. I'm good at it, and I like it. There are a lot of consultants out there like me, but I agree that we're the minority.
I was particularly frightened by the monetary figures... $500-$800 a month? Wow. I work for a VERY LARGE telecom as a contract consultant (programming, Oracle, etc) and they pay about $500 A DAY for me to be here. My consulting firm gets a cut of that, of course. So moneywise, it's certainly prudent for companies to look overseas. But...
I work with a variety of people here. Indian, Romanian, Hungarian, and even a few Americans. My software group is 7 non-americans, 2 americans. But I don't worry. You know why? Because even though these people are smart, and write good code, they just don't get the big picture problems. They don't troubleshoot very well, and they don't self-task very well. They don't manage other people very well. They can't get their mind around the large issues, they don't understand the American way of doing business and serving customers, and they don't understand corporate politics and schmoozing. Their communications skills aren't as polished. Certainly there are exceptions, but that's my overall impression after working for 4 years in this industry. Also, I'm not defending some of the stupid corporate crap I put up with, but hey, that's what pays my (high) salary. I take the good with the bad. But I don't believe, not for a minute, that the majority of these programmers could do my job. If we pared my group down, one by one, I'd be the last to go. Multiple skillsets, superb communications skills, and cultural knowledge of how we do business are truly valued assets in a programmer. Why? Because so many programmers don't have them.
Don't worry, be happy. And stash large amounts of $$$ for the future if I'm wrong.
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"As for being standard, cpio is way more standard than tar.gz - there's still commercial Unices that are shipped without gnu tar or gzip."
Our DEC Alphas here at work don't have gzip; neither does Solaris (although I haven't checked the new Solaris 7 distro yet). What an odd omission. Anyone know why they don't include it?
My beef with consultants is, from what I've experienced, they're better at talking then they are about doing. They're fast at the keyboard but you often have to fix or undo everything you paid them to do -- if they ever finish the project at all.
Not all consultants are like that. I'm not. I know a lot and I deliver a lot. Sure, there are consultants out there who do it because they can't hold down a real job for an extended period of time, because they can't stand the long-term scrutiny of their work - they bail before they can be evaluated.
I consult (I'm a contractor) for two reasons, the first being $$money$$. I make $30,000 - $40,000 more a year than if I was a salaried employee - and I only work 40 hour weeks. If I work more, I get paid more. What do I give up? Benefits, 401K, and stock. I have my own, thank you, and they cost me way less than $30,000 a year (I figure on $5,000 with retirement savings). And I give up 'security'. What a joke. At least my relationship with my employer is honest. It's like a hooker/john relationship. I'm the hooker, I get paid well for what I do, and they can dump me whenever they want. Companies don't take care of their permanent employees too well nowadays, so who cares if I lose my job? I'll get another one next week.
The second reason I consult is that I like the changing atmospheres. I fulfill the terms of a contract, and if I want to leave, I leave.
I like the lifestyle, I like the money, and I'm not doing it to hide behind management reports and crappy work. I'm good at it, and I like it. There are a lot of consultants out there like me, but I agree that we're the minority.
I was particularly frightened by the monetary figures... $500-$800 a month? Wow. I work for a VERY LARGE telecom as a contract consultant (programming, Oracle, etc) and they pay about $500 A DAY for me to be here. My consulting firm gets a cut of that, of course. So moneywise, it's certainly prudent for companies to look overseas. But...
I work with a variety of people here. Indian, Romanian, Hungarian, and even a few Americans. My software group is 7 non-americans, 2 americans. But I don't worry. You know why? Because even though these people are smart, and write good code, they just don't get the big picture problems. They don't troubleshoot very well, and they don't self-task very well. They don't manage other people very well. They can't get their mind around the large issues, they don't understand the American way of doing business and serving customers, and they don't understand corporate politics and schmoozing. Their communications skills aren't as polished. Certainly there are exceptions, but that's my overall impression after working for 4 years in this industry. Also, I'm not defending some of the stupid corporate crap I put up with, but hey, that's what pays my (high) salary. I take the good with the bad. But I don't believe, not for a minute, that the majority of these programmers could do my job. If we pared my group down, one by one, I'd be the last to go. Multiple skillsets, superb communications skills, and cultural knowledge of how we do business are truly valued assets in a programmer. Why? Because so many programmers don't have them.
Don't worry, be happy. And stash large amounts of $$$ for the future if I'm wrong.