Hi!
I'm John Locke, and I'm your host here on the Open Source Solutions for Small Business Problems web site.
In high school in the early 1980s, I was one of the geeks who lived in the computer lab, but after I graduated I took off in other directions. I did a lot of traveling, worked in all sorts of industries for all kinds of businesses, and got a degree in languages and literature.
In the mid 1990s I started writing. My first published article was a book review for Alaska magazine in 1994. In 1996, I returned to the computer industry, taking a web production contract at Microsoft. I spent two and a half years working in Microsoft buildings before starting a freelance technical writing business, which has now turned into an IT consulting firm.
I'm a relative latecomer to open source software. I've been using it since early 2000, but it wasn't until the fall of 2002 that I started using Linux on the desktop. In January 2003 I started to recognize the potential open source software has for transforming not just technology but the entire business landscape. In May of that year I got a contract to write the book Open Source Software for Small Business Solutions from Charles River Media. The book hit the stores in June 2004, and while it has not yet received that much attention, it has been getting great reviews.
This web site started as the list of resources for each chapter of the book, as a place where I could keep my readers up to date. I hope you find it a useful starting point for finding a solution for your business.
Cheers,
John