How I landed a job in open source

A collection of articles about jobs and careers in open source.

I have been working in the computer business for over 40 years, but the best years have been the last 17 or so working with Linux and open source software. I got into the computer business unintentionally and kind of sideways, but that is a whole other story. I'll tell you about how I got into open source and Linux semi-intentionally and also kind of sideways.






I got started in computers in 1969 when I convinced the company I was working for to purchase an Olivetti Programma 101—one of the first programmable desktop calculators—to assist me with my calculation-intensive job. Soon after that, I spent 21 years with IBM, first as a Customer Engineer (CE) fixing hardware. I then spent some time in Boca Raton, Florida where I wrote the training course for CEs on how to fix the first IBM PC. Later, I spent time as the lead support person for IBM's OS/2 operating system.

After leaving IBM I had my own consulting company helping customers with OS/2. It was enjoyable but I could see by the mid 90's that IBM was going to let OS/2 die. I really liked working at the operating system level but did not want to go the Windows route. One day a friend who worked for a large international company here in Research Triangle Park in North Carolina called me looking for someone to help them with their OS/2 systems. To make a long story short, I eventually took a full time job working for that company on the condition that I be allowed to learn Unix, which they also used to a great extent.


Source:
http://opensource.com/business/15/1/how-i-landed-job-open-source

H.R. : How volunteering at events can advance your open source career | Opensource.com

A collection of articles about jobs and careers in open source.

When I look back at my years working in open source, I realize how much conferences have helped my career. Back when I was an editor at Linux Pro Magazine, I met dozens of writers in person at conferences, which almost always improved our working relationships, and I recruited countless new and first-time authors. Watching other speakers and then meeting them after their sessions helped inspire me to get past my stage fright (with a dash of imposter syndrome) and start speaking at events. I've also forged friendships at conferences that are now almost as old as my career. And I've met more than one person who ended up being a future employer.







Within the next few weeks, I will attend FOSDEM and DevConf.cz for the first time, and I'll attend the Southern California Linux Expo SCALE 13x for the eighth time. (I got snowed in and missed SCALE 11x, otherwise this would be the ninth.) I can't be at every event I'd like to attend each year, but SCALE consistently stays in my "must attend" column, not only because of its stellar lineup of sessions and speakers. The event is affordable, fun, and provides a great way for me to see a bunch of friends in one location.

SCALE is put on by volunteers, which is especially impressive when it all comes together at the last moment. At the end of the weekend, attendees leave saying, "This was the best SCALE ever," a sentiment we feel every year. If you want to be a part of SCALE 13x, and volunteering sounds intriguing, check out their recent call for volunteers. You don't have to be an open source expert, or have any open source experience at all for that matter, because the event organizers have a range of jobs just waiting for volunteers to fill them.

Get experience


Source:
https://opensource.com/business/15/1/volunteer-events-advance-open-source-career

Remarkable open source and Linux games in 2014

Hello, open gaming fans! In this week's edition we look back at all of the news and stories in 2014 that we covered for open source and Linux games!

Gaming hardware

We've covered quite a bit on this topic in 2014. We started the year withOpenPandora, which further opened its hardware by releasing its designs. We looked at the Oculus VR, who acquired and open sourced their networking engine, and later in the year they released a software development kit. The Raspberry Pi is on the list, with emulating retro OSs. And we covered a few controllers, like the one from Steam, the Microduino-Joypad, and Gamebuino: an 8-bit 'maker movement' Arduino console.

Open source and Linux games

We continued to see an increase of games available on Linux, especially on Steam, but also by other distributors and native Linux games.

Once in a while, we stumbled upon true open source games. The first one we covered was Open source OpenXcom v1.0. And of course, we can't leave out theFOSS ChuChu Rocket clone we've all been waiting for. And, Google released the free and open source game Pie Noon to the Google Play Store in order to highlight multiplayer-gaming for the Nexus Player, an Android TV device.

Start your open gaming engines!

Source:

https://opensource.com/life/14/12/year-review-open-gaming

Shuttleworth Explains Why Open Source is More Secure than Closed Source [VIDEO]

"The great thing about open source is that it's so dynamic and has so much innovation, that we have much more diversity in our ecosystem than there has ever been in the proprietary ecosystem," Shuttleworth said. "You'll never stop security issues from occurring in either open source or proprietary software but you deal with issues faster in open source."


Source:
http://www.linuxtoday.com/security/shuttleworth-explains-why-open-source-is-more-secure-than-closed-source-video.html