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Chef Marcel at your service!Food, Wine, and Linux may seem like a strange combination, but combining three passions can be a wonderful thing. I'm Marcel Gagné. Those of you who read Cooking with Linux, the multi-award-winning column that appeared monthly in Linux Journal magazine for 10 years, likely agree. With the help of my faithful waiter, François, Restaurant Chez Marcel serves up the finest in Linux and open source software paired with exceptional wines.

In that same spirit, this site features great Linux and Open Source software, ongoing wine tasting reports, recipes, and the occasional restaurant review. If you came here looking to read past Cooking with Linux columns, you'll find newer releases on the front page, a comprehensive list here and under the "CWL, The Column" menu link to the left. A votre santé! Bon appétit!

PatrickGreen's blog

Inviting people to use a service and eat your broth.

Mon, 06/09/2008 - 18:58 — PatrickGreen

"I am providing FLOSS software installation/configuration and support to home/small business users and I want to be able to make 1000 € per month providing this."

 

This brilliant sentence was composed by our own penguineer.  He knows what he is providing, who he is providing it to, and how much he wants to make from this.  When I am boiling water and making a broth, I know what I am making and once I know who I am serving it to, now I need to know how best to invite them to partake of my soup.

Beginning a FOSS Based Business and a Simple Broth

Wed, 06/04/2008 - 18:47 — PatrickGreen

So in the last installment we broke down a business idea into a simple sentence and then learned how to boil water. This is useful, but a sentence is not a viable business and a pot of boiling water will not make for a wonderful dinner when entertaining.

As of yet I have seen no responses to the sentence, "I am providing ________ to _______and I want to be able to make $_______ per ____ providing this." So I will go with my first incarnation of my former Linux Migration Business. When I started I was not consulting, I was selling computers with Linspire Linux pre installed. This began as a part time venture so it is a simple model for this sentence.

I am providing computers with Linux preinstalled to budget minded consumers and Linux curious people and I want to be able to make $300 per month providing this.

A Beginners Guide to a FOSS/Linux Business and How to Boil Water.

Mon, 06/02/2008 - 20:31 — PatrickGreen

So, you have all this wonderful FOSS/Linux know how and a passion for it. Your passion is so great that you want to make a living doing it. That is sooo cool. But before you do, you need to learn how to boil to water and develop a solid business model around it so you can actually make money. When I first started a Linux Migration biz, I started off as a Linspire reseller, consultant, and builder. I was doing a little of everything and charging LOW fees to do it. I had few clients and when I did have a client, I operated at a loss. I did not give up, however, I kept at it.

I started talking to other Linspire users trying to make a go of this professionally and found it was most of us in the same boat. I then began to wonder...is it possible that being a geek and a businessman are two different things? When the answer to that was yes...I then asked the question: Is it possible for a geek to learn how to be a competent businessman? I found out the answer was yes...but I had to unlearn some bad habits.

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by Dr. Radut.