[linuxjobs] Ubuntu / Canonical Hiring

[Paul Feakins]

Alvin Chang:

"Pay people for the value they create, not for their locality.
Pay people for their output, not their input.
Money is just the means to an end, not the end itself.
We don't really want money, but the utility money can exchange for.
Money facilitates humanity's dream of space exploration, but it cannot
explore space."

All very idealistic, sounds great in theory, but from that comment I 
don't think you've ever run a business. Feel free to correct me if I'm 
wrong of course ;)

Steve Hill:
"Why not?  I understand that some people want to go into the office, but 
why on earth should they have to?  I've been working remotely for over 
12 years and my colleagues all work remotely too."

I've alternated between in-office and remove over the last 15+ years as 
an employee, contractor and business owner with staff. There are pros 
and cons to both. After the pandemic we intend to go back to the office 
2-3 days/week with the rest WFH when before it was 5 days/week in the 
office. It seems to be the best of both worlds and hire staff a little 
bit further away as a long commute 2 days/week is less taxing and 
working from home can boost productivity by reducing distractions - as 
long as the staff are motivated.

"As someone who owns a business that is not based in London, if I were 
choosing another business to work with on a project, I would pick one 
who has offices in, say, Birmingham rather than London - its easier, 
cheaper and quicker for most parts of the UK to reach somewhere like 
Birmingham than London.  (And no, I'm not based anywhere near Birmingham)."
It all depends on a lot of factors. My company is in the creative 
industry and isn't based in London but I'm sure if it were we'd be able 
to attracted 10x bigger clients and they would expect to be able to come 
in and meet the creatives working on their brief for the premium they'd 
be paying. It's not something I intend to change but it seems to be just 
how the industry/market works.

I know some people on a FOSS mailing list are likely to be a bit 
idealistic, and of course I love open source, but I don't make the rules 
of the market and the fact is that a business will try to minimise what 
they spend on salaries and indeed all expenses - that's just how it works.