The short answer is a resounding yes. Whether you work as a Linux server administrator, or do custom Linux installations, you can make a decent income from it.
Many people assume that just because Linux is a free open source software, there’s no money in it. How wrong these people are. Heck, almost every Linux kernel hacker is paid or sponsored in some way by reknowned IT companies for their work. Almost every IT company in the world has an interest in the Linux kernel. Of course there are others such as Microsoft and its cronies who fear the tremendous growth and stability of Linux and would do anything including spreading FUD about it.
I too have made a few thousand bucks from various Linux related projects including:
- Setting up web hosting servers
- Implimenting Samba servers
- Email solutions (a fetchmail, dovecot and sendmail threesome)
- Backup solutions
And probably a few others I can’t recall right now.
Back to the topic of this post, Can you make money from Linux? Of course! In fact, it’s easier than you think. Before going onto the things you need to do, let me cover some of the things you don’t need in order to make money from Linux:
- Paper qualifications of any sort
- A tremendously high IQ (heck, mine is only 147)
- Any initial monetary investment (although investing in a few good books is recommended)
What you do need are:
- The willingness to learn
- Perseverence
- A keen, observant and analytical approach to facing problems and solving them
- Decent googling skills
- Absence of shyness (you need to be willing to pimp your services)
Believe it or not, that’s all there is to it. Other than being profitable, Linux is fun and challenging. Heck, it beats problogging any time! ?