"In my opinion, there needs to be a SWIFT and immediate criminal investigation of Linuxgruven's CEO Matthew Porter and their management. I believe that they were running a ponsi scheme, paying employees out of the money they were getting for 'training' new people."
I'm not defending Matt Porter per se, but I have to set the record straight on a couple of points. I'm just continuously amazed by all the misinformation on the Internet that's presented without all the facts or one shred of evidence.
Matt Porter seems to be one of the victims in all this.
He may not be totally blameless. He may be guilty of being in over his head in a position for which he was not qualified, trying to do a job for which he was ill equipped. And he may be guilty of an ill-advised legal maneuver to attempt to take a company away from its owners. I don't know.
But I'm pretty sure that he is out salary, expense money and bounced checks worth more than most of us.
The money for another company is coming from a venture capitalist that he was introduced to by Jim Hibbits, who was supposed to be putting money into Linuxgruven. As I understand it, this individual didn't want his money in a company that was being run by Hibbits and Lebb. That's what ultimately led to the executives leaving the company.
They saw that the company was being run as a "pyramid scheme" or "ponzi scheme," and wanted to stabilize the operation and put systems in place to handle the growth, and grow the client base, before expanding into other cities. (Again, this is all based on second-hand information, and is only accurate as near as I can speculate. I am not privvy to lots of insider information.) Hibbits and Lebb, apparently, just had dollar signs in their eyes and couldn't wait to open those 7 additional offices so they could party on.
Again, I'm not defending Matt Porter so much as I am accuracy and fairness. And I give him credit for taking the high road in all of this. I saw him speak briefly at the St. Louis UNIX/Linux Users Group meeting last week. He cautioned us that the collapse of Linuxgruven is bad for the Linux community as a whole, regardless of what happened and who else was hurt.
He may be guilty of many things, but I don't believe he's guilty of deliberate criminal actions. But, I could be wrong.
"Better to deliver pizzas, get yourself a PC, some books and start playing with it. In months if you have the ability, you will be ready to work as an entry-level tech for someone, where you will get the REAL experience you need to make the certs mean something."
Why is this scenario preferable to working with your PC at home and those available in the Linuxgruven lab, studying the books, passing the tests, and then working for Linuxgruven making significantly more than one would make delivering pizza as an entry-level tech and getting "the REAL experience you need to make the certs mean something"? Doesn't the second scenario encompass what you're suggesting, while also being much more profitable?
There was no memo, but yes, we were advised of an article at Slashdot that was worth our attention.
What does this prove to all you conspiracy theorists out there? That there really are a significant number of people who accepted Linuxgruven's offer, passed the exams, and are gainfully employed by the company? I'm sure that's not it. That wouldn't be any fun, now would it?
So, of what significance is it that we all became aware of this at the same time, and responded in kind?
What can we deduce from this? Perhaps that a number of employees of the company, who are making a good living in a field they love, are trying to balance the scale by offering the other side? That those employees are loyal to a company that's given them a great opportunity, and are annoyed and angered by the misinformation, disinformation and speculation that are running rampant on forums such as this?
Even if that were the case, wouldn't the number of posts suggest that the offer made by Linuxgruven is not a "scam" and does in fact lead to gainful employment?
Shouldn't fair, accurate and balanced disemination of information be the goal of any sort of forum such as this?
I have a nearly completely non-tech background. I was a retail sales manager for about 17 years. My only tech experience was working with my own box at home for a few years. I left retail and worked as the Director of Data Processing for a small company and determined that I'd much rather be in a tech related field that in the retail grind.
I saw the ad from Linuxgruven, submitted a resume, took the aptitude test and had a couple of interviews. I admit it took a lot to overcome my skepticism. The explanation I received for the payment of the training fee up front and other aspects of the company's business model satisfied me enough to fork over the money.
I passed the SAIR exams (taking some more than once) after going through Linuxgruven's four week training. It wasn't easy, especially with my lack of a technical background, but if it was easy it would have little value.
I began my employment the first of the year. I am making what I was promised. We are doing the sorts of things I was told we would be doing.
For someone changing careers as dramatically as I did in the middle of my earning years, this is a great opportunity, and I have no regrets.
Slashdot Mirror
"In my opinion, there needs to be a SWIFT and immediate criminal investigation of Linuxgruven's CEO Matthew Porter and their management. I believe that they were running a ponsi scheme, paying employees out of the money they were getting for 'training' new people."
I'm not defending Matt Porter per se, but I have to set the record straight on a couple of points. I'm just continuously amazed by all the misinformation on the Internet that's presented without all the facts or one shred of evidence.
Matt Porter seems to be one of the victims in all this.
He may not be totally blameless. He may be guilty of being in over his head in a position for which he was not qualified, trying to do a job for which he was ill equipped. And he may be guilty of an ill-advised legal maneuver to attempt to take a company away from its owners. I don't know.
But I'm pretty sure that he is out salary, expense money and bounced checks worth more than most of us.
The money for another company is coming from a venture capitalist that he was introduced to by Jim Hibbits, who was supposed to be putting money into Linuxgruven. As I understand it, this individual didn't want his money in a company that was being run by Hibbits and Lebb. That's what ultimately led to the executives leaving the company.
They saw that the company was being run as a "pyramid scheme" or "ponzi scheme," and wanted to stabilize the operation and put systems in place to handle the growth, and grow the client base, before expanding into other cities. (Again, this is all based on second-hand information, and is only accurate as near as I can speculate. I am not privvy to lots of insider information.) Hibbits and Lebb, apparently, just had dollar signs in their eyes and couldn't wait to open those 7 additional offices so they could party on.
Again, I'm not defending Matt Porter so much as I am accuracy and fairness. And I give him credit for taking the high road in all of this. I saw him speak briefly at the St. Louis UNIX/Linux Users Group meeting last week. He cautioned us that the collapse of Linuxgruven is bad for the Linux community as a whole, regardless of what happened and who else was hurt.
He may be guilty of many things, but I don't believe he's guilty of deliberate criminal actions. But, I could be wrong.
"Better to deliver pizzas, get yourself a PC, some books and start playing with it. In months if you have the ability, you will be ready to work as an entry-level tech for someone, where you will get the REAL experience you need to make the certs mean something."
Why is this scenario preferable to working with your PC at home and those available in the Linuxgruven lab, studying the books, passing the tests, and then working for Linuxgruven making significantly more than one would make delivering pizza as an entry-level tech and getting "the REAL experience you need to make the certs mean something"? Doesn't the second scenario encompass what you're suggesting, while also being much more profitable?
There was no memo, but yes, we were advised of an article at Slashdot that was worth our attention.
What does this prove to all you conspiracy theorists out there? That there really are a significant number of people who accepted Linuxgruven's offer, passed the exams, and are gainfully employed by the company? I'm sure that's not it. That wouldn't be any fun, now would it?
So, of what significance is it that we all became aware of this at the same time, and responded in kind?
What can we deduce from this? Perhaps that a number of employees of the company, who are making a good living in a field they love, are trying to balance the scale by offering the other side? That those employees are loyal to a company that's given them a great opportunity, and are annoyed and angered by the misinformation, disinformation and speculation that are running rampant on forums such as this?
What is the point of your observation?
Even if that were the case, wouldn't the number of posts suggest that the offer made by Linuxgruven is not a "scam" and does in fact lead to gainful employment?
Shouldn't fair, accurate and balanced disemination of information be the goal of any sort of forum such as this?
I have a nearly completely non-tech background. I was a retail sales manager for about 17 years. My only tech experience was working with my own box at home for a few years. I left retail and worked as the Director of Data Processing for a small company and determined that I'd much rather be in a tech related field that in the retail grind.
I saw the ad from Linuxgruven, submitted a resume, took the aptitude test and had a couple of interviews. I admit it took a lot to overcome my skepticism. The explanation I received for the payment of the training fee up front and other aspects of the company's business model satisfied me enough to fork over the money.
I passed the SAIR exams (taking some more than once) after going through Linuxgruven's four week training. It wasn't easy, especially with my lack of a technical background, but if it was easy it would have little value.
I began my employment the first of the year. I am making what I was promised. We are doing the sorts of things I was told we would be doing.
For someone changing careers as dramatically as I did in the middle of my earning years, this is a great opportunity, and I have no regrets.