A veiled attempt to enslave the proletariat with empty bourgeois promises

[pyesetz]

The subject above is a surprisingly-popular answer for the poll at the bottom of this diary over at DailyKos.  I had originally sent it to TorFur, but the initial response was rather poor (I had been warned that job postings to furry lists usually don't get much of a response), so I reposted it to DailyKos.

In case you're wondering (and who wouldn't?), the [CENSORED] items are

• Dogbiscuit crumbs and Nutella
• Wear a diaper and not bathe
• Cute foxboi

As of today, I'm still talking to one of the TorFur respondents and one of the dK respondents, but so far no one has actually signed up for the job.  So my unblemished record of "always a programmer, never a manager" continues!  I expect that becoming a manager will cause my headfur to go grey overnight, because management is one of those "life passage" things that causes your body to think that you need to start looking older and more distinguished.

Comments

[dotter-can.livejournal.com]

Hey, it sounds like a great job! I'm just not qualified in any way. I suspect there aren't that many coders among us is why.

[pyesetz]

But you already have the Linux computer!

I guess my problem is that I think anyone can be a coder.  All you need is a high frustration tolerance and a reason to keep working on building that skill-level.

When I was in high school, the "AV club" wasn't my bag, so I took Intro Programming, read the advanced programming manual, wrote some stuff, wrote some more stuff, and it was all so easy.  I did some baby-sitting for a guy down the street who was a partner in a small programming shop, who gave me a summer job, and I turned it into a career.  Apparently others' experience is different?

[dotter-can.livejournal.com]

I have to admit, I've been having some trouble with my computer lately which required me to re-install Karmic Koala (KDE version.) I backed-up my home folder to my second hard drive, but somehow my .mozilla-thunderbird folder ended up absent. So I no longer have your original post to the TorFur list.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, then but I sort-of recall that the qualifications you listed either specified or implied that you wanted candidates who already knew several packages. I think you included Java and Javascript, CSS, I think Perl was in there too, and maybe SQL? I don't remember clearly. Anyway, I don't already know any of those.

If you don't mind employing an absolute beginner though, I'd take the job.

Let me put it this way; the reason I had to re-install is that I was looking at the threads in the Kubuntu mailing list and one of them discussed installing video drivers. I'd installed a new GeForce FX5500, (old, I know, but it was cheap), and I was having trouble getting kpackage to install drivers for it, so I tried the suggestions in the thread. I ended up with no video at all. I didn't know to check alt-F2 or (R-alt)-PrtScn-k so I don't know if they worked. And ctrl-alt-Fn only brought up black screens, too. So in the end I had to re-install. (Luckily the LiveCD let me copy my home directory to my other HD first. I've no idea why it didn't copy .mozilla-thunderbird with the rest of the dotted files.)

If that sounds to you as if I can handle on-the-job training and still put out code within deadlines, then let's talk.

[pyesetz]

I'm still using Intrepid Ibex, but I suppose I should upgrade soon.  But upgrading is such a chore!

How did you do the backup?  A command like "cp * /target" will skip over files whose names begin with periods, such as ".mozilla".


you wanted candidates who already knew several packages

I would prefer that, since then the candidate could start working immediately.  But as a "furry outreach" I can also talk to people who aren't ready to start working but would like to become ready.


I ended up with no video at all.

I see you are familiar with the "high frustration tolerance" issue.  I've been there.

[pyesetz]

I've no idea why it didn't copy .mozilla-thunderbird with the rest of the dotted files.

Sorry, I missed the "rest of the dotted files" part.  I have no idea either.

[dotter-can.livejournal.com]

Ah, my mistake; you required PHP, C, YACC, etc. You also mentioned LAMP, CSS, ssh, cvs, gcc, bash and qmail.
- PHP I know is a scripting language.
- C I know is a programming language, the one used mainly since the 80s.
- CSS stands for "cascading style sheets," which replaced tables in HTML, probably because tables weren't complex and fussy enough for M$.
- gcc was familiar; Googles tells me it's the Gnu C compiler.
- Bash I know is a Linux shell, the only item from the list I've actually used.
- Qmail might be a better idea than Thunderbird, which has inconvenienced me through several emergencies and platform changes.

I have no idea what the rest are. Do I still sound like a promising candidate? (I ask because it doesn't sound like that to me and I'm the one who needs the job!)

[pyesetz]

Do I still sound like a promising candidate? ... I'm the one who needs the job!

It depends on how acute your financial need is.  It takes a while to build up your programming-skill level to the point where it's worth money.

What happens if you point your browser at localhost?  Suppose you install Ubuntu package 'apache2' and try again.  Does something different happen?

If you create file /var/www/phpinfo.php containing this text

<? phpinfo(); ?>

and point your browser at localhost/phpinfo.php, what happens?  If you install Ubuntu package 'php5' and try again, does it show somewhat-interesting factoids about your computer?

If you install Ubuntu package 'php-doc' and point your browser at file://usr/share/doc/php-doc/html/index.html', you should see the reference manual for PHP.  Can you think of anything that you can make this thing do?

[dotter-can.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately I'm going to need work pretty soon. Thanks anyway for the offer! :)

I've already re-installed Karmic, which fixed the no-video problem and allowed kpackage to install NVIDEA accelerated graphics driver V1.73, which has been working okay as far as I can tell. I don't want to fuss with it anymore in case I make another schmutz. But thanks anyway for the advice, it was nice that you wanted to help.

[dotter-can.livejournal.com]

(after taking yet another look at your "Daily Kos" post in case I missed something)
Oh, one other thing; it's a desktop, not a laptop. I have a very old Toshiba Satellite that might run DSL or Xubuntu if I put in a bigger HD and max out the RAM. Is a laptop a requirement?

[pyesetz]

Is a laptop a requirement?

No.  I use a laptop so I can take the work with me and make money while sitting in waiting rooms, etc.