[ale] RE: [ale-unemployed] A proposal

[Charles Marcus]

> From: Jim Philips [mailto:jcphil at mindspring.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, January 30, 2002 11:11 AM
> To: unemployed at ale.org
> Subject: Re: [ale-unemployed] A proposal
> 
> Having said that, I do think there is a good market for a 
> Linux services company marketing to small and medium sized
> businesses in Atlanta and selected cities around Georgia.
> I think IBM already owns the market for big business in this
> area. But there are many companies who started out small and
> are growing beyond their original business processes. I know,
> because my nephew owns just such a company. They need help in 
> automating their business processes but they don't want to put
> huge amounts of capital into it. These people can benefit
> hugely from what Linux has to offer. To start with, you can
> get them networked around Samba. If they need invoices or
> forms in a database, you can get those into MySQL or PostgreSQL.
> The savings over a Microsoft or Oracle product are huge. 
> 
> I am wondering just how many people might like to pursue a 
> business like that. It would have to be a versatile group and
> a versatile business. If you just offer one kind of service,
> you are likely to hit bottom fast.  But there is something to
> be done here and it could really grow. I think adoption of
> Linux by business is just starting to hit critical mass. So
> who would like to meet and talk about it?

Count me in.  I don't have a lot to offer expertise wise as far as Linux is concerned.  I have been playing with it for about a year, but haven't spent as much time as I should have.  I am weak on security issues, but very willing to learn.  I do have a good working knowledge of Windows networking (Win 9x, NT and 2k).  I also have a job, so woud be content with just learning to begin with (ie, no pay).  Of course, since I do have a job, any work I did would have to be evenings and weekends.

Also, since I do retain the copyright to the PostgreSQL/Php database replacement for ACT I mentioned earlier, I would be happy to provide access to that code, on certain conditions.  If we had something that no one else had (an open-source, web-based replacement for ACT), it might serve as a door-opener in some cases.  Of course, we would have to finish it up first and fix the (minor) bugs.  I have considerable plans for this system long-range (like redoing it using EJB (Enterprise Java Beans)), but don't have the cash to finance such a thing right now.

Anyway, I would be very interested in pursuing this...

Charles



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