During my SE work, one thing I ran into a lot is the need for Linux training. I’ve visited a lot of companies that have no staff trained in Linux. I’ve also heard that the main reason certain companies don’t use Linux is the lack of trained staff. Some people seem downright afraid of it, which is really unfounded as I consider Linux to be as easy to use as Windows, once you learn the subtle differences at least.
I know Linux well and I’ve got plenty of training experience. I love to conduct training: its one of the highlights of my day job. I’ve been wondering if a business offering Linux training for newbies might be self-sustaining. It’s certainly worth exploring.
I think it’s worth checking out. Linux is different (and IMHO, better) than Windows, but the “strangeness” aspect wears off pretty quick after you play with it for a little while. Pass out some Live CDs so people can take Linux for a spin without having to install anything. A demo of OpenOffice should get some attention, especially when you factor in the cost savings.
Currently, training is pretty exspensive. Take a look at what Red Hat gets for their training courses.
As for Open Office, my old test used to be to feed it my resume and if it took more than 5 minutes to tweak it into shape, it wasn’t up to the job. The problem went away some time ago (like 3 years ago). It handles headers and footers and most everything you do with Word. It isn’t as if Word actually got much more useable function since Word 6. With the emerging requirements for a standard document base in xml, the days of $600 for MS Office with Access are going to go away.