O’Reilly and Associates has several tips for better Linux use posted on their Linux section, excerpted from their “Linux in a Nutshell” book.

“The Internet traffic and content distribution market was shaken up last week
when Inktomi and Cisco announced competing consortia to speed Internet
content to users. Content Bridge has been created by Inktomi to challenge
Akamai’s leadership. Cisco’s Content Alliance is based on Akamai technology.
Both groups have many of the same members.” ITWeek story.

“Timpanogas Research Group, Inc.
located in Orem, Utah is pleased to announce it will provide NetWare File
System and Migration Capabilities on Caldera’s SCO Unix Technologies. TRG is
also announcing that it will postpone plans to provide an Open Source
NetWare(TM) Directory Services Implementation on the Linux platform.” Press release at PRWire.

Microsoft is now 25 years old, and the company’s hometown paper, the Seattle Times, is making much of it.

A company in San Jose, California, is offering “geek house calls” for $39 per hour. They don’t claim their people are supertechs, just experienced users who can do things like software installation, PC setup, and answer questions about how to do things like find information on the Internet. Will the concept fly? read the current Modem Driver column at sv.com and decide for yourself.

ABC News ponders dot-com companies that run out of money and ask employees to stick around for reduced (or no) pay — often in return for larger stock options or an equity stake — until they can get it together, and whether workers who go for this kind of deal are doing the right thing or simply nuts.

Dallas Morning News piece about the difficulties non-profits have attracting tech workers because they offer comparatively low salaries. Quote: “Recruiters say it can be difficult to communicate the ideals of community service and
social work to engineers and programmers who are being tempted by big-buck salaries
from dot.coms and other tech companies.”

The Information Technology Association of America says that 70% of US demand for tech workers comes from non-tech companies that employ between 50 an 100 people. These companies, their larger brethren, and government agencies can’t compete with dot-come and other pure tech companies when it comes to salaries and perqs, but they often offer their employees a higher quality of life instead — including shorter hours and less stress. Washington Post article.

Washington Post story talks of LifeMinders, Inc., an online company that asks people to reveal all kinds of personal details about themselves — and has gotten millions to do so by helping to organize their lives in return.

Happy Halloween! Oh, alright, it probably will have already been
Halloween
by the time you get this, but you’re still hip-deep in candy. Isn’t
Halloween great? You run around the neighborhood dressed like a maniac,
and you grab candy from willing donors. It’s fantastic. They want to
give
you candy, you want to take candy. You want to hoard, they want to let
you
do it. If you don’t hoard the candy, you’re thought of as
strange. What a great business model!

Open Source is like Halloween for geeks. The only strange dynamic is
that
the kids grabbing the candy and the adults distributing the candy are
the
same group of people, and you’re expected to let anyone eat from your
bottomless pillowcase of candy. No problem, right? It’s wonderful! It’s
fantastic! It’s giving! It’s freedom!

Until you realize that sometime, somewhere, someone’s got to pay for
the
candy. Oh, we’ve advanced beyond the concept of spending cash for a bag
of
‘fun size’ Snickers bars. It’s all about time and interest. Time
actually
isn’t the hard part. Sure, a lot of developers are super-busy, but
you’ll
find that getting a program written takes more than just time. It’s got
to
be interesting.

That’s right, it’s got to be interesting. Want to know why there’s no
fantastic small-business financial management tools for Linux? Because
small-business financial management software is only slightly more
interesting than watching a full evening of ‘The Brady Brides’
reruns. It’s boring! It’s stupid! It’s painful! They need something
more
to get them involved. Here’s some tips to getting your application
written.

On Halloween, the silliest thing you could do is to be one of those
people
that just leaves a basket full of candy on the doorstep with a little
sign
that says ‘please take one.’ Are you mad? The first kid that comes to
that
door is gonna bolt up there, dump the basket into his or her bag, turn
around and say, ‘It’s empty!’ Duh. Want kids to share? Supervise. What
does this mean? Get involved. Help them. Make them feel wanted and stay
onboard so you can get what you really want.

Want them to come to your house again and again and again? Be the guy
who
gives out entire candy bars. Oh, yes. They will flock to your house.
They
will come by your house many times, sometimes in different costumes. I
know this because I did this when I was a kid. Always keep a spare mask
around. Anyway. The kids need something to come back for. Give them a
huge
Snickers bar. I’m not saying the ‘King Size,’ but certainly bigger than
the standard Halloween ‘Fun Size.’ Get the big candy bars. What does
this
mean? Support them! It’s not enough just to be around. You’ve got to
give
them the good stuff. Definitely time, maybe some money. Maybe some
equipment. Anything you can spare, but make sure you’re giving the best
you can.