SKOOKUM: After Week One
So, I've finished the first week at Skookum. Good impressions, all around. Good people -- and some really exciting IT projects on the way.
One of the most interesting things of note is the position on open source. Most people who know me and have talked to me for any length of time about computers have heard me mention open source. To alot of people, this means linux. Not necessarily. There's a ton of great Windows and Mac apps that are all open source, and some are actually quite good.
The part of this story that's interesting to me, however, is that Skookum is a pure Microsoft shop. Which makes sense -- it's a non-profit, and we get software at amazing prices. Like, $20 for Win Server 2003. That's pretty cheap, huh? Coupled with the experience the three of us have on that platform, and it's a no-brainer that we'd want to employ that platform.
Anyway, I do (and did) list the Linux experience I've got on my resume, and we mentioned it in passing during the interview. So, no linux -- got it. The last three days, though, and linux has come up a fair amount, and not by me. So, finally, my boss broached the subject directly. He said that he wasn't opposed to bringing up the possibility of a linux thing here or there.
I mentioned that not all open source software (OSS) was linux, and talked about 7-zip, GIMP, dia, Inkscape, Scribus, Arachnophilia, Python, and a few other programs. He reiterated that he was open to the possibility that open source could be used by us, but that would be on a case by case basis.
Now, I don't have an aspirations of converting anyone to linux or open source. I find it really interesting, though, and want to use it as I can. So in this case, I think playing it cool about OSS allowed my boss to realize that I wasn't a zealot, in here to start throwing Windows servers out the door or something. In reality, having a cool (or maybe I should say realistic) view of OSS has given an opening here for it where there would have been none. Granted, the amount that OSS can fill is small, but it's there. Might as well put something in, and get the job done. That's what it's supposed to be about, right?
