[ale] Prelancing oportunities?

[Leam Hall]

On 02/13/2012 07:00 PM, Mike Thornton wrote:
> Prelancing is described by some as 'pre-compensation freelancing'. AKA
> working for free.

Mike,

I'll chime in with what has worked for me, and a few hopefully useful 
ideas.

First, I think your plan is a great one. I started on Linux on an i386 
that took until 2 AM to compile the kernel. I started because we were so 
poor I couldn't afford a Windows upgrade. One time my wife splurged and 
bought me OS2 Warp. Gotta love her, even if the OS is gone...

My background is sort of similar; as a kid I played with those 
electronics sets. In the military I worked on old teletype hardware; 
computers were the "new" thing coming in. After the military I tried 
some different tracks but found my enjoyment playing with/on my computer.

I volunteered to help a friend with a Netware based FidoNet BBS. My 
first remote sysadmin work. I took a class in C, played with Solaris, 
and my wife got me a Slackware book with a CD. The BBS friend gave me an 
old Mitsumi single speed cdrom and off I went.

We moved to Italy and I got a "job" working for an ISP. I mostly 
volunteered so I could do stuff there; the phone rates were high and 
speeds were slow. Whenever they asked me if I could do something in 
Linux, my response was "Oggi no, domani possible." Today, no. Tomorrow, 
possibly. I'd go home, figure it out, and come back the next day and set 
it up.

Came back to the states and found a part-time job doing SCO Unix (uk!) 
that lasted long enough to get a full time SA position based on 
experience. Yup. that ISP, the part time SCO job, and the BBS stuff were 
enough to get me in with the Wall Street Journal. My hiring manager once 
said he wanted "someone who does this stuff at home" and I fit the bill 
perfectly.

To answer your question more directly, look at non-profits, churches, 
schools, etc. Lots of places don't the the money to buy Windows capable 
hardware but they need file servers, web servers, etc. Setting up 
networks wouldn't hurt either. Many places could use web services where 
they're not charged an arm and a leg for a decent site. They also often 
have custom needs to resolve and no real backups or recovery postures.

Another idea for you is to look at the "Go" programming language from 
Google. It is my feeling that some good things will happen with it and 
your background seems well suited to utilize a good systems language.

Really, I think your possibilities are pretty good. Your attitude will 
be a key ingredient. Don't overlook places like LinkedIn, either.

Figure out what really energizes you and follow that path. Your 
happiness will show and help sell you.

Leam