[Glastonbury] an idea

[Martin WHEELER]

[ This was originally a private reply to Mike, but since the text has
  now been put out to the list, the reply might just as well go
  direct to there too. ]

Mike __

Actually, when nothing further transpired after our animated
conversation, I assumed you'd let the idea drop.  I nevertheless carried
on developing my own thoughts on what we'd talked about, and may even
make them public at some time in the future.

The core idea of your vision: "London has work but no workers;
Glastonbury has workers but no work; let's find a way of putting one in
touch with the other" obviously has a certain validity.  (And
attractiveness to the mandarins in local government who are not only
charged with advancing the common weal, but also have the key to the
public coffers; which is presumably what your paper is aiming for.)

[Aside: a small group of us in this town have already been working on a
specific aspect of this for a couple of months now -- nothing to do with
the IT services sector, but the pre-press (translation, copy-editing,
indexing, proof-reading, type-setting) sector, which has traditionally
been handled this way by the London agencies servicing the publishing
houses.  Because in this area, the town *does* have significant spare
professional-level capacity.  And the concept of outsourcing the work
from London already exists.]

But from the Linux-specific point of view, I can't help feeling you've
got a rather simplistic and naive view of things.

To start, 'Linux' isn't something brash and new and the latest fad --
"let's jump on board and make a killing, quick" -- but a long slow
10-year development in the IT sector which has only recently percolated
through to the consciousness of the general public.  (Don't forget for
example that I personally have been offering Linux services in
Glastonbury for seven years already.  What I do is not new -- but only
now is the general public, education and local government becoming aware
of it.)  I feel there's a bit of the "Hey folks, I've just discovered
Linux and I'm all excited about it; let's turn it into money" attitude
of the recent initiate in your paper, which needs handling with caution.

To begin with, Glastonbury definitely does NOT have any spare IT
consultancy capacity in the Linux field at the professional level that
the likes of IBM, Dell and Hewlett-Packard (all of whom are currently
spending enormous amounts of energy and money on Linux-based projects
and developments) are going to fall over themselves to hire.
Or even any competent London-based pimping agency, for that matter.
The competent consultants in town are *already* employed elsewhere.
The others are just wannabes.

Secondly, LUGoG represents a bunch of amateurs, volunteers and neophytes
-- NOT as you would like to persuade the big-money-spenders, a
tightly-focussed group of professional IT consultants.  And the learning
curve in training people up may be steeper than you think.  Moreover,
it's not only in knowing how to use 'Linux' -- it's also in knowing how
to sell consultancy services in a professional market-place.

Thirdly, Linux training services *already* exist in Glastonbury -- I've
been delivering training from here ever since I arrived seven years ago;
and recently, I've begun persuading people to come to the town to
receive their training, rather than have me go to London to deliver.
[Aside on the ICT Centre -- *two* of us in town have tried to hire that
place over the last eighteen months for IT training delivered by
ourselves -- and got precisely nowhere.  And as for delivering >>Linux<<
(i.e., non-Windows) training there -- you might just as well apply for
permission to run a Black Mass in the building.]

Which brings me to another point: I'm afraid that despite the
over-liberal sprinkling of marketese and related terminology in
your paper ("diarise" ?  [No thank you, I've got a packet of Immodium
somewhere]) in your paper, the term "Glastonbury Collective" does not
immediately inspire thoughts of professionalism and excellence.
A bunch of pot-head programmers living under plastic sheets maybe; but
serious professionals?  Sadly: NO.
(This is all part of the image problem Glastonbury as a whole suffers
from -- listen to someone who has recently taken to saying he comes from
'the South-West' rather than 'Glastonbury'.  I'm well aware that it's
good policy for making County Hall/regional development unlock their
coffers; but for the punters it's a definite turnoff; and no more than
a source of silly jokes about mud, drugs, etc.)

The precise details of how many meetings, when, and where, I won't even
go into -- obviously if the basic material isn't there to begin with, such
details are irrelevant.
However, I would say that, from a personal point of view, any such
development which was allowed to be controlled from London would
*inevitably* find that all the profits (and financial control) would
eventually 'drift' to London too -- leaving us all no better off than
when we started.  So I would oppose any development not firmly
controlled from Glastonbury from the start, I'm afraid.

And as a final thought -- I don't think you're being realistic in
imagining London fees for out-of-London services.  The competition is
*not* the Porsche-driving, fast-living, cocaine-snorting London
consultant beloved by the media; but the well-educated highly competent
Indian sub-continent employee working for ONE-FIFTH of what you would
accept as a salary to do the same work.
Sorry; but this is the real world of supply and demand of IT services.

I have other comments to make; but I've probably upset you enough
already.  On the positive side, you threw in an aside somewhere in there
which I think might point towards a real possibility -- the Windows
market is so huge and nebulous (and forgiving), that a "Glastonbury
Collective" of anarchists (your term, not mine!) might just be able to
peddle its wares profitably in the way that you suggest.

But Linux services?  Only with very, *very* careful forethought,
in-depth knowledge of the Linux market, and extremely careful planning.
Carried out by professionals.

Cheers,
-- 
Martin Wheeler   -   StarTEXT / AVALONIX - Glastonbury - BA6 9PH - England
mwheeler@startext.co.uk                http://www.startext.co.uk/mwheeler/
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