[Cialug] Cialug Beginnings

[Nathan C. Smith]

I agree with Jeff, it is silly to do something if you don't have passion around it (unless you are getting paid so you can support other important things).  Solve a problem  you want to solve and share the solution somehow.

This goes hand in hand with my answer to an earlier question - don't worry about the certification(s)  (unless they are easy to get after passing a class).   The more important thing is probably to be able to point to a body of work (code) or list tangible benefits to the organization or users of software you have created.  Even if is something as lame as an Access report that simply saves somebody 20 minutes each month from having to cut and paste values into a spreadsheet.  This isn't always something you can do from classroom exercises and goes back to something Josh said a while ago about volunteering and solving problems for others in order to land a job doing what you want to do.

* in an interview you would want to be able to point to both the realized benefit (savings of time or money, access to information) *and* the technical achievement - (Single SQL statement, this C library and 50 lines of code-) whatever may be unique and creative about your solution.  (and then tie your understanding of the company's needs to your abilities and creativity.)

-Nate


-----Original Message-----
From: cialug-bounces at cialug.org [mailto:cialug-bounces at cialug.org] On Behalf Of Jeffrey Ollie
Sent: Wednesday, July 20, 2011 1:59 PM
To: Central Iowa Linux Users Group
Subject: Re: [Cialug] Cialug Beginnings

On Wed, Jul 20, 2011 at 1:42 PM, Matthew Nuzum <newz at bearfruit.org> wrote:
> Ah crap. I may have just started a flame war. (Welcome to Linux) In 
> hopes of offsetting that, let me just encourage you to seek input from 
> multiple people then follow your heart. ;-)

Actually, most people are asking the wrong question when they ask what language and/or framework and/or whatever they should learn next (and the same goes for people that answer these questions).

The RIGHT question to ask/answer is - what project do I find interesting and would like to contribute to?  Once you've answered that question (and there's only one person in the universe that can answer that question), then you figure out what you need to learn to contribute.

Want to write a Linux kernel driver for that old USB thingamabob that you have laying around?  You'll need to know C.

Want create a plugin for WordPress?  You'll need to know PHP.

Et certera, et cetera.

The interesting part comes when you want to do something that hasn't been done before, then start with what you know and only start looking to learn something different if what you know won't get the job done.

> On Jul 20, 2011 1:37 PM, "Matthew Nuzum" <newz at bearfruit.org> wrote:
>> C is becoming a niche skill these days. It implies only three 
>> industries I know of: driver/kernel development, embedded development 
>> (we're arguably in the post C world here too) and 
>> algorithm/library/high performance computing world. At the least, 
>> many have moved on to c++.
>>
>> I'm getting back to opinionated ground, but I don't usually encourage 
>> people to start out with old technology. The stuff that's bleeding 
>> edge today will be entering mainstream in 3-4 years and be in demand.
>>
>> C as a language represents all that is archaic and old. At least use 
>> something object oriented. C++, Java, C# and Go are examples.
>> On Jul 20, 2011 11:38 AM, "Pawel" <pdarowski at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> So a hiring manager would like to hear about some personal projects?
>> Perhaps
>>> one good example of an overcome challenge? I guess it would paint a 
>>> decent picture of the applicant's self-motivation and ability to 
>>> seek answers.
>>>
>>> Thanks for all your input. I'm beginning to see that the biggest 
>>> challenge of development [in my eyes] is having a vision or finding 
>>> that interesting problem that needs solving. Once it's found, the 
>>> rest is research and determination.
>>>
>>> Two more quick question while I still have the floor! :) How 
>>> important are certifications in the real world? And please, what is 
>>> the "industry standard" for C certificates? I'm having an impossible 
>>> time finding a C cert... And my instructors don't really know of 
>>> any.
>>>
>>>
>>> See you around,
>>>
>>> Pawel Darowski
>>> PDarowski at gmail.com
>>>
>>> On Wed, Jul 20, 2011 at 9:44 AM, Matthew Nuzum <newz at bearfruit.org>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> On Tue, Jul 19, 2011 at 5:03 PM, Pawel <pdarowski at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Since I cannot attend meetings for quite some time, perhaps the 
>>>>> IRC channel would be a good place to start taking advantage of the 
>>>>> knowledge that already exists in this group. My question is: how 
>>>>> did some of you
>> start
>>>>> your careers as Linux professionals? My goal is to use Linux in my 
>>>>> professional life from Day 1.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I too am usually unable to make it to the meetings. I do about one 
>>>> per year. However I still feel reasonably involved with the group 
>>>> by participating on the list.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Any tips, stories, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
>>>>> Thank you,
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> The common thread among the people I've met through this group is 
>>>> that we're tinkerers. Find some fascinating problem or challenge 
>>>> and dig into
>> it.
>>>> Back in "the day" the most interesting linux problem was figuring 
>>>> out how
>> to
>>>> get it to actually install. This one has been pretty soundly dealt 
>>>> with
>> now
>>>> though. :-)
>>>>
>>>> (in my case I owned only about 5 working floppies and lived off 
>>>> campus at ISU (near towers) and had to ride my bike to Durham to 
>>>> download 5
>> slackware
>>>> disks, then ride back home to complete the next phase of the 
>>>> install - which, btw, is slower than a 14.4k modem)
>>>>
>>>> Some people are financially motivated - they want to run PHP or 
>>>> Ruby or a server and make websites for money. A huge number of 
>>>> people I've dealt
>> with
>>>> are into Games and want to make their own. You'll not find a more 
>>>> diverse set of development tools than is available in Linux (check 
>>>> out PyGame).
>> Yet
>>>> others are into robotics or hardware hacking which is yet again 
>>>> very well suited for Linux. A few people use Linux to hook up to 
>>>> their TV to record and watch TV shows.
>>>>
>>>> By the way, this kind of activity looks great to potential employers.
>> They
>>>> really like to see people who are problem solves and are 
>>>> self-motivated
>> to
>>>> learn new skills and explore new ways of doing things.
>>>>
>>>> I will say that there are three trends to keep in mind as you're 
>>>> looking for interesting challenges:
>>>>
>>>> 1. We're in an increasingly heterogeneous environment - windows, 
>>>> mac os, linux, ipads and more all need to talk to each other 2. The 
>>>> web is either the most important application deployment platform 
>>>> now, or is right up there (this ties into the prev point) 3. Mobile 
>>>> is huge (and the number one mobile platform in the world runs
>>>> Linux)
>>>>
>>>> (You asked for opinions...)
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Matthew Nuzum
>>>> newz2000 on freenode, skype, linkedin and twitter
>>>>
>>>> ♫ You're never fully dressed without a smile! ♫
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>>
>
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Jeff Ollie
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