Why Aren't There More Independent Linux Desktop Support Companies/Technicians?
by Dbugy from LinuxQuestions.org on (#5KQB8)
TL;DR
I am curious to why I can barely find any desktop computer technicians that specialize in Linux or companies that provide Linux desktop support services to other organizations or individuals.
Hi all,
I have recently been in the look for a job as a computer technician for Linux desktop systems and realized that I am not able to find almost any company or singular technicians that provides Linux desktop support as a service. Of course their are plenty of forums and tutorials online, but these are not the same as being able to call up a person or a company and get personal support by a live human for your problems.
I want to make clear that I am not posting here looking for a job, I am posting here because this made me curious and I wanted to see other peoples thoughts.
What I mean
If I broke my personal computer at home I could go to most technicians and they would probably know to help me with my hardware problems as well as any Windows software problems.
For the Apple users out there their are independent repair shops that yes, specialize with apple hardware, but can also help you with MacOS software problems if you need.
These are independent companies that come in addition to Microsoft's and Apple's own support, as well as the support given by different hardware manufacturers support centers like Dell, HP, Lenovo etc.
What I did find
I will start by saying my search focused on Europe as that is where I am job hunting.
So I know there are some companies that deal with Linux consumer hardware that provide customer support for their products like Tuxedo Computers ad System76, and I do see a job listing on Tuxedos website for Linux customer support. However, though these companies and their work is very important, and for their customers answers the need that I am talking about, it is more equivalent to the support centers that Dell and HP provide then to an independent support company.
Ofcourse we have Canonical, Suse, Redhat with their enterprise support options, which are more equivalent to the Microsoft and Apple support. But if I, as a consumer, run into a problem I will be directed to the forums, I wouldn't be calling Canonical customer support, and this makes sense since I never even purchased their product (and am not monetizing them through other means such as ads revenue).
I did also find a company named Pantek in the US that i think does what I am talking about - provides Linux support services. This seems more geared towards enterprise solutions though.
I also found a guy in Israel that does exactly what I am talking about, he has a company (that is just him as far as I can tell) that provides computer technician services with emphasis on Linux desktop support.
Otherwise I did not find any company or individual providing computer technician services with Linux at tits heart.
What I would expect to exist
I know that Linux desktop does not have a large market-share, but I would still assume that there would be more companies that specialize in providing Linux desktop support, especially since Linux is such a passion for a large amount of the community. More than surprised that I couldn't find companies doing this I was surprised to not see any private individual computer technicians specializing in Linux desktop support (even if alongside Windows).
I could see a market for a Linux support company or just an individual Linux support technician that would provide one or more of the following:
- Consumer computer support + offering Linux and open-source alternatives to clients to save on costs or just because the open source alternative is better.
- Reviving old computers with Linux + providing support and selling them for cheap to schools, governmental programs and other organizations that could benefit from cheap computers.
- Go to companies, governmental offices, organizations, schools etc. and offer them a service of transitioning them to Linux and open-source options and providing support for a cost that may have some upfront costs but in the long run will save them money on licenses and hardware costs (since Linux can have fewer system requirements than Windows and as such cheaper machines can be bought).
- A company that offers hardware manufactures to contract out Linux support to them. I.e. Lenovo has recently started offering laptops with Linux preinstalled, but they do not know how to handle Linux when calling their support center. I can see a company offering Lenovo to contract that out to them. The same can go for Dell and even System76 or Tuxedo.
I understand that in the consumer space it is a bit of a chicken and egg problem - no technicians exist since there aren't enough clients and their aren't enough clients partially since there isn't a traditional support network that you can call or physically go to.
In the enterprise space I can see numerous problems:
- Schools and other NGOs etc have gone to chromebooks which are just as cheap as refurbishing an old laptop and putting Linux on it. Of course chromebooks come with other disadvantages, but I guess those don't matter to these organizations?
- Larger companies have in-house IT departments that normally know nothing about Linux and training them + setting up an entire new LDAP system for user management and all the firewalls and security and group permissions etc. would be a huge financial cost and time waste.
- Getting your users in the and different departments getting used to a different system can cause major problems in company, especially since a lot of the users are not tech savy. To counter this I would say that end-users at large organizations do not need to deal with the actual OS, they just need to click an icon and a program opens and that is all they use. So while getting used to thunderbird instead of outlook for example would be a very large learning curve for some, for the most part the internal programs people use in organizations will stay the same.
- Some internal software for companies may just not work on Linux, which would make them not able to transfer to Linux at all. This is a big problem, but more and more companies are transferring their software to be web based and so I believe with time this problem is not as big as one may think.
- Their may be some hardware compatibility problems with existing peripherals (i.e. scanners and printers) in many companies that can add to the costs if they need to be replaced.
- I know very large companies are moving more and more towards virtualization options using Citrix etc. and as such might actually be even more cost efficient in a way (while restricting the workers more, which is sometimes a plus and not a minus)
I am sure there are many other problems I haven't thought of. Even so my instinct still indicates that there would be a market for this type of service and it is weird for me that I can't find companies that are attempting this.
My background is mostly as a Windows technician in large organizations while being a Linux enthusiast at home. I had thought myself to start such a company, but I do not feel I have enough of Linux know-how to go about it alone. This being said if a company already existed that does this I would be happy to join it and I am sure others would to. I am saying this to point out that I do not think that finding employees would be the problem for a company like this.
Final Questions
Am I missing something and there are companies/individuals doing this that I am not aware of?
Am I being too naive and all the problems I mentioned (plus those I didn't think of at the moment) just to big? Have there been companies that have tried this in the past 10 years that have just failed?
Am I wrong about some of the things I mentioned? Please correct any mistakes I may have.
Why do you think companies like this Linux desktop support companies/technicians don't exist?
WOW I can see I rambled a bit, hope I was clear enough but let me know if anything needs clarification!
I am curious to why I can barely find any desktop computer technicians that specialize in Linux or companies that provide Linux desktop support services to other organizations or individuals.
Hi all,
I have recently been in the look for a job as a computer technician for Linux desktop systems and realized that I am not able to find almost any company or singular technicians that provides Linux desktop support as a service. Of course their are plenty of forums and tutorials online, but these are not the same as being able to call up a person or a company and get personal support by a live human for your problems.
I want to make clear that I am not posting here looking for a job, I am posting here because this made me curious and I wanted to see other peoples thoughts.
What I mean
If I broke my personal computer at home I could go to most technicians and they would probably know to help me with my hardware problems as well as any Windows software problems.
For the Apple users out there their are independent repair shops that yes, specialize with apple hardware, but can also help you with MacOS software problems if you need.
These are independent companies that come in addition to Microsoft's and Apple's own support, as well as the support given by different hardware manufacturers support centers like Dell, HP, Lenovo etc.
What I did find
I will start by saying my search focused on Europe as that is where I am job hunting.
So I know there are some companies that deal with Linux consumer hardware that provide customer support for their products like Tuxedo Computers ad System76, and I do see a job listing on Tuxedos website for Linux customer support. However, though these companies and their work is very important, and for their customers answers the need that I am talking about, it is more equivalent to the support centers that Dell and HP provide then to an independent support company.
Ofcourse we have Canonical, Suse, Redhat with their enterprise support options, which are more equivalent to the Microsoft and Apple support. But if I, as a consumer, run into a problem I will be directed to the forums, I wouldn't be calling Canonical customer support, and this makes sense since I never even purchased their product (and am not monetizing them through other means such as ads revenue).
I did also find a company named Pantek in the US that i think does what I am talking about - provides Linux support services. This seems more geared towards enterprise solutions though.
I also found a guy in Israel that does exactly what I am talking about, he has a company (that is just him as far as I can tell) that provides computer technician services with emphasis on Linux desktop support.
Otherwise I did not find any company or individual providing computer technician services with Linux at tits heart.
What I would expect to exist
I know that Linux desktop does not have a large market-share, but I would still assume that there would be more companies that specialize in providing Linux desktop support, especially since Linux is such a passion for a large amount of the community. More than surprised that I couldn't find companies doing this I was surprised to not see any private individual computer technicians specializing in Linux desktop support (even if alongside Windows).
I could see a market for a Linux support company or just an individual Linux support technician that would provide one or more of the following:
- Consumer computer support + offering Linux and open-source alternatives to clients to save on costs or just because the open source alternative is better.
- Reviving old computers with Linux + providing support and selling them for cheap to schools, governmental programs and other organizations that could benefit from cheap computers.
- Go to companies, governmental offices, organizations, schools etc. and offer them a service of transitioning them to Linux and open-source options and providing support for a cost that may have some upfront costs but in the long run will save them money on licenses and hardware costs (since Linux can have fewer system requirements than Windows and as such cheaper machines can be bought).
- A company that offers hardware manufactures to contract out Linux support to them. I.e. Lenovo has recently started offering laptops with Linux preinstalled, but they do not know how to handle Linux when calling their support center. I can see a company offering Lenovo to contract that out to them. The same can go for Dell and even System76 or Tuxedo.
I understand that in the consumer space it is a bit of a chicken and egg problem - no technicians exist since there aren't enough clients and their aren't enough clients partially since there isn't a traditional support network that you can call or physically go to.
In the enterprise space I can see numerous problems:
- Schools and other NGOs etc have gone to chromebooks which are just as cheap as refurbishing an old laptop and putting Linux on it. Of course chromebooks come with other disadvantages, but I guess those don't matter to these organizations?
- Larger companies have in-house IT departments that normally know nothing about Linux and training them + setting up an entire new LDAP system for user management and all the firewalls and security and group permissions etc. would be a huge financial cost and time waste.
- Getting your users in the and different departments getting used to a different system can cause major problems in company, especially since a lot of the users are not tech savy. To counter this I would say that end-users at large organizations do not need to deal with the actual OS, they just need to click an icon and a program opens and that is all they use. So while getting used to thunderbird instead of outlook for example would be a very large learning curve for some, for the most part the internal programs people use in organizations will stay the same.
- Some internal software for companies may just not work on Linux, which would make them not able to transfer to Linux at all. This is a big problem, but more and more companies are transferring their software to be web based and so I believe with time this problem is not as big as one may think.
- Their may be some hardware compatibility problems with existing peripherals (i.e. scanners and printers) in many companies that can add to the costs if they need to be replaced.
- I know very large companies are moving more and more towards virtualization options using Citrix etc. and as such might actually be even more cost efficient in a way (while restricting the workers more, which is sometimes a plus and not a minus)
I am sure there are many other problems I haven't thought of. Even so my instinct still indicates that there would be a market for this type of service and it is weird for me that I can't find companies that are attempting this.
My background is mostly as a Windows technician in large organizations while being a Linux enthusiast at home. I had thought myself to start such a company, but I do not feel I have enough of Linux know-how to go about it alone. This being said if a company already existed that does this I would be happy to join it and I am sure others would to. I am saying this to point out that I do not think that finding employees would be the problem for a company like this.
Final Questions
Am I missing something and there are companies/individuals doing this that I am not aware of?
Am I being too naive and all the problems I mentioned (plus those I didn't think of at the moment) just to big? Have there been companies that have tried this in the past 10 years that have just failed?
Am I wrong about some of the things I mentioned? Please correct any mistakes I may have.
Why do you think companies like this Linux desktop support companies/technicians don't exist?
WOW I can see I rambled a bit, hope I was clear enough but let me know if anything needs clarification!