[clug] [Offtopic] Canberra based employment for kernel hackers?

[Bob Edwards]

At the Novell Seminar last Monday there was a strong push by Novell, HP,
IBM and Oracle to get more Linux (Novell's SLES 9, in particular) into
Federal Government.

An interesting factoid that flew past was that in the past many companies
apparently baulked at Linux because the cost of hiring suitable
Sys. Admins. etc. was _higher_ (I almost fell out of my seat). A part of
the argument for now considering Linux was that Linux Sys. Admins. are
now about as expensive as Unix/Windoze admins (but you will need fewer of
them).

This was all a bit curious to me. I had always thought that M$ admins were
paid a lot more than Linux admins - why else would anyone ever consider
being a M$ admin? According to these dudes (above) this was not the case.
(You can tell that I don't believe them).

Either way, I know that I am paid a lot less than most M$ contractors
floating around town. If I didn't enjoy my job so much, I would probably
care about that.

Anyway, looks like the Government might start looking more seriously at
Linux/Free Software/Open Source Software in the near to medium future. May
be worth putting in a CV with some of the outsourcing/contracting firms
around town - they may want to get in early and be ready for the Linux roll-
out when it comes. Then again, I might be dreaming.

As for software development, many of the smaller Defence contractors will be
looking more and more at Linux for their embedded systems work, I would
think. Might be worth putting in CVs with them as well. CEA in Fyshwick
might be one worth approaching. There are plenty of others.

Cheers,

Bob Edwards.

Paul Warren wrote:
> Nigel Cunningham wrote:
> 
>> Hi all.
>>
>> I may be looking for work soon, and wouldn't mind the possibility of
>> staying in Canberra if it's possible. Can anyone provide pointers to
>> people who might be helpful in finding Linux work in Canberra?
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Nigel
> 
> 
> Well,  I've been looking for a linux job, for the past 8 months, and 
> have found nothing.   That might be because I need part time (I'm 
> studying CompSci at ANU), or have something to do with the fact the I've 
> no qualifications, but  I do have 6 years of solving problems with 
> linux, both at home and with freinds, and this year I"ve done some 
> things in the industry for free (see posts late last year from me) with 
> a teeny bit of paid work here and there. So, good luck, and pass my name 
> on if you would be so kind :o)
> 
>   Bob Edwards (a frequent CLUG poster) might be able to help,  he runs 
> the Technical Services Group at the ANU, which runs linux on some 
> systems. (But I've tried there with no response)
> 
> Other than that, people are sometimes posting linux jobs to this list. 
> And of course, www.seek.com.au and www.careerone.com.au
> 
> Cheers