Gentoo for Business?

[Joshua Zeidner]

On 1/31/08, Kevin Faulkner <kondor6c at cox.net> wrote:
> > > > I'm sure Gentoo is loads of fun if you're a hobbiest of some kind,
> > > > but I doubt it will gain any serious traction in the corporate
> > > > realm. So if your goal is marketable skills, Gentoo is clearly
> > > > not the the way to go.  Configurability can sometimes be a minus,
> > > > as it adds to the number of variables that need to be managed =
> > > > cost++ = ROI--.  If anyone knows of any specialty niches for
> > > > Gentoo in the corporate arena, I'd be interested to know.
>
> I have learned a great deal from Gentoo all the way from using chroot
> to to properly setting my locale. Whereas with Ubuntu and other sorts
> I keep feeling like I'm being told "its okay that you're an idiot, we'll
> take care of things". Now with it being in the corporate environment
> I believe that Gentoo's place is slightly different, personally I think
> is more behind the scenes like a print server or log server where you
> can have time to get things all lined up and you don't need those extra
> cpu cycles for say.. handing out web pages. Just what I believe. You
> also have a great deal of control with Gentoo's USE flags, you don't
> need to compile support for something if you're not going to use it
> (why chance a possible security risk if you don't need to?)


  Tech guy credo:

   Its simple.  As long as you let me do it.

   Its cheap.  As long as you don't consider what you are paying for my salary.


>
> >   ahhh... just go with the 20 year old!  He'll work for peanuts and
> > learn just about anything you tell him as long as you maintain the
> > 'startup' image around the office (bean bag chairs, wacky clothing and
> > eyeglass frames, etc.).  He will build feature-rich systems with his
>
> Ahhh yes.... I think this point of view is horribly misguided. Being
> 23 a lot of times people will look at me and see that I'm young, and
> therefore will not take my recommendations seriously, which is really
> starting to bother me. I can personally say that I don't make
> recommendations blindly. When I'm incorrect, I'll be the first to admit
> so. I hate people who automatically discredit me purely because of
> how old I appear. Working for peanuts, yeah perhaps, but that's usually
> because you need to grab a hold of the best opportunity you can get.
>

  Hey well I was fresh out of school once two so I can't blame you.
I've certainly outgrown the 'tech startup' thing, I do feel that the
'startup scene' is cultivated by various parties who want activity,
drive, and energy- and most importantly want to harvest it.  I can't
help but notice recent promotion campaigns by Facebook to make it
appear that developing for their platfrom is 'cool' and profitable,
which it is neither.  Of course you see the standard tactics, create a
few winners and the rest just gather round, its kind of like a casino
when the lights and bells go off to make sure that all the other happy
gamblers think someone is winning big.


> > brazen can-do attitude and somewhat disconcerting and totally
> > irrational self-confidence.  Of course the rest of the people who work
> > for you and actually have a function will stay clear away from him,
> > but hey its a /startup/!  -jmz
> Based on what I know, a good sense of self confidence is not a bad
> thing, but when elitism develops is when the self confidence should be
> reviewed.
> Granted you may have been trying to be funny but I believe you just
> reinforced this nasty stereotype.

  Trying? :(

> Unfortunately its because of this
> that I honestly wish I was older. I'm not trying to be rude, just
> direct and to the point. Please excuse me if it seems that way.

  ah... well Im by no means old, but I'm no rookie either.

  -jmz