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A person with disabilities trying to find opportunity in linux/hosting
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A person with disabilities trying to find opportunity in linux/hosting

jason5545jason5545 Member
edited August 2022 in General

I don't know if this is the appropriate category or not, I select General first since it is still relevant to hosting in some kind. I just wanted to write it down while I am still able to
As you may know, I had cerebral palsy in born, caused by premature birth, only six months.
As a result of certain parts(specifically in motion) of brain damage too, that's the reason why I had only one finger and my brain is usable.
Because of my situation, my parents knew that I had only one way to go, computer-related stuff. That's why I had my first computer as early as '98, it's a PC with a touch screen CRT, super uncommon at that time. And my dream at that time was" I wish I can become a software engineer in the future"
I tried to self-study a long ago, and I encountered an issue from my end, I can follow the book, but I can't create even a snippet on my own, I tried many ways and help from outside, but it just seems no way of getting it.
During my college career we had a course called "operating systems" it teaches about Linux and Unix, and I was amused by it, how sleek and powerful it is, you can do so much with only a command, so I decided to give another try and after that, I am using it till now. And obtained a few local certificates too
The problem with local businesses is even if you could do the work, they will be worried about that because your body's specialty that, if something went wrong, they have some responsibility to it too, so the replies always are:" we are impressive about your but we don't have the environment to let a disabilities person work, maybe the future will." then that's it.
So I decided if I can do something on my own, the first thing that pops up in my head, is to create a hosting business, running on my own, so I work on my own. There are still many obstacles, but I believe that I can go over them one day if things go well.
Hope everyone is well, world peace. Never looked back.
This is the first time I write a long paragraph in English, correct me if there is anything wrong because English isn't my native language. Thanks

Comments

  • amsaalamsaal Member
    edited August 2022

    May God Bless You and Always protect you and give you alot of strength . i am happy you are very strong in believing in your self.

    And yes hosting would definetly be a way you can look into making some money. But what ever you choose be it web hosting / email hosting or anything that makes benefits for hosting make sure you have team that can guide you in your goals.

  • God bless you man. Hope you everything well.

    Thanked by 1jason5545
  • 加油哦 all the best! perhaps you could begin with webhosting / webdesign business in Taiwan. as far as i can see, many TW sites are in web1.0 era. Identify the gap and try to fill in.

    Are you able to speak in real life?

    Thanked by 2jason5545 BlaZe
  • Respect!

    You are very determined and more hard working than many ordinary people.

    I wish you all the best sir.

    Thanked by 1jason5545
  • <3 your story is moving, I wish you all the success!

    Thanked by 1jason5545
  • @cybertech said:
    Are you able to speak in real life?

    謝謝, yes, I can speak, but not as clear as normal people,but communicable.

  • LeviLevi Member

    Work hard and long. May God be with you!

    Thanked by 1jason5545
  • Not_OlesNot_Oles Moderator, Patron Provider
    edited August 2022

    @jason5545 said: create a hosting business

    How? Do you have a plan?

    @jason5545 said: still many obstacles

    What are the most challenging obstacles? How will you overcome them?


    Here is some great advice from @raindog308, quoted from his Low End Box Interview

    What advice do you have for hosting providers?

    Differentiate yourself. If your plan is to be yet another host selling Linux VMs with Solus with a ThemeForest template based in an OVH datacenter, I think you’ll struggle. People say “I’ll offer better service!” but it needs to be more tangible than that.

    Right now, small indy players lack the cloud features (block storage, hourly billing, resizing on demand, etc.) to compete with big guys and don’t offer an API. A small player who brings those to the table will have a leg up. Also those who can find some niche and really add value – e.g., if there is a specialized piece of software that you can master and be the go-to host for – can rise above the herd.

    It’s tough, no doubt.

    I first saved a copy of @raindog308's above advice on June 24, 2020. I keep going back to read it again. Thank you @raindog308!

    @jason5545 I wish you good luck! :)

    Thanked by 1jason5545
  • cybertechcybertech Member
    edited August 2022

    @jason5545 said:

    @cybertech said:
    Are you able to speak in real life?

    謝謝, yes, I can speak, but not as clear as normal people,but communicable.

    webhosting/design, small scale trading/drop shipping could be viable options. Hope you find your calling soon. Plenty respect.

    Thanked by 1jason5545
  • Good luck Jason! Hope you find success in your endeavour!

    Thanked by 1jason5545
  • @Not_Oles said:

    @jason5545 said: create a hosting business

    How? Do you have a plan?

    @jason5545 said: still many obstacles

    What are the most challenging obstacles? How will you overcome them?


    Here is some great advice from @raindog308, quoted from his Low End Box Interview

    What advice do you have for hosting providers?

    Differentiate yourself. If your plan is to be yet another host selling Linux VMs with Solus with a ThemeForest template based in an OVH datacenter, I think you’ll struggle. People say “I’ll offer better service!” but it needs to be more tangible than that.

    Right now, small indy players lack the cloud features (block storage, hourly billing, resizing on demand, etc.) to compete with big guys and don’t offer an API. A small player who brings those to the table will have a leg up. Also those who can find some niche and really add value – e.g., if there is a specialized piece of software that you can master and be the go-to host for – can rise above the herd.

    It’s tough, no doubt.

    I first saved a copy of @raindog308's above advice on June 24, 2020. I keep going back to read it again. Thank you @raindog308!

    @jason5545 I wish you good luck! :)

    Thanks, basically @raindog308 's quote summarised it all, I will just be a one-man business, in terms of the service, I am just not able to compete with the big one, and this was my concern before I joined LET.but after I joined LET, I saw there are still many interesting hosting providers are providing interesting hosting services, for example, @Cam and @Abd 's super low prices VPS/NAT VPS, @NetDynamics24 's FTP only hosting, @PulsedMedia 's seedbox service, all of this are unique for me if I didn't join LET, But this all open my mind, so there may have a chance because TW's market is more towards traditional web/VPS hosting basically none of them are specialized hosting like above, so if I can start specialized services to enter it, it may work.
    Now my obstacle is, the many kinds of licensing fees, WHMCS, virtualitor, and if web hosting, direct admin, this all ain't cheap. And local customers still prefer local servers instead of oversea ones. These are currently the obstacles I could think of. In the beginning, I can coordinate with a web designer to gain some customers to overcome this, because if you are a web design company most of them don't care where your server is, as long as your service is stable. But if today you are finding a web services/VPS by yourself, your goal is to find the server nearest to you.
    After that, then I can try to do something that doesn't exist within TW market yet. And one benefit for me is, that I speak Chinese.
    Thanks for all of your wishing guys.

  • @jason5545 said:

    @Not_Oles said:

    @jason5545 said: create a hosting business

    How? Do you have a plan?

    @jason5545 said: still many obstacles

    What are the most challenging obstacles? How will you overcome them?


    Here is some great advice from @raindog308, quoted from his Low End Box Interview

    What advice do you have for hosting providers?

    Differentiate yourself. If your plan is to be yet another host selling Linux VMs with Solus with a ThemeForest template based in an OVH datacenter, I think you’ll struggle. People say “I’ll offer better service!” but it needs to be more tangible than that.

    Right now, small indy players lack the cloud features (block storage, hourly billing, resizing on demand, etc.) to compete with big guys and don’t offer an API. A small player who brings those to the table will have a leg up. Also those who can find some niche and really add value – e.g., if there is a specialized piece of software that you can master and be the go-to host for – can rise above the herd.

    It’s tough, no doubt.

    I first saved a copy of @raindog308's above advice on June 24, 2020. I keep going back to read it again. Thank you @raindog308!

    @jason5545 I wish you good luck! :)

    Thanks, basically @raindog308 's quote summarised it all, I will just be a one-man business, in terms of the service, I am just not able to compete with the big one, and this was my concern before I joined LET.but after I joined LET, I saw there are still many interesting hosting providers are providing interesting hosting services, for example, @Cam and @Abd 's super low prices VPS/NAT VPS, @NetDynamics24 's FTP only hosting, @PulsedMedia 's seedbox service, all of this are unique for me if I didn't join LET, But this all open my mind, so there may have a chance because TW's market is more towards traditional web/VPS hosting basically none of them are specialized hosting like above, so if I can start specialized services to enter it, it may work.
    Now my obstacle is, the many kinds of licensing fees, WHMCS, virtualitor, and if web hosting, direct admin, this all ain't cheap. And local customers still prefer local servers instead of oversea ones. These are currently the obstacles I could think of. In the beginning, I can coordinate with a web designer to gain some customers to overcome this, because if you are a web design company most of them don't care where your server is, as long as your service is stable. But if today you are finding a web services/VPS by yourself, your goal is to find the server nearest to you.
    After that, then I can try to do something that doesn't exist within TW market yet. And one benefit for me is, that I speak Chinese.
    Thanks for all of your wishing guys.

    In any starter host or planing to be one , also consider anti ddos protection most website if they have traffic are prune to be down so need more training and solid network framework in order to make it possible.

    Thanked by 1jason5545
  • @amsaal said:

    @jason5545 said:

    @Not_Oles said:

    @jason5545 said: create a hosting business

    How? Do you have a plan?

    @jason5545 said: still many obstacles

    What are the most challenging obstacles? How will you overcome them?


    Here is some great advice from @raindog308, quoted from his Low End Box Interview

    What advice do you have for hosting providers?

    Differentiate yourself. If your plan is to be yet another host selling Linux VMs with Solus with a ThemeForest template based in an OVH datacenter, I think you’ll struggle. People say “I’ll offer better service!” but it needs to be more tangible than that.

    Right now, small indy players lack the cloud features (block storage, hourly billing, resizing on demand, etc.) to compete with big guys and don’t offer an API. A small player who brings those to the table will have a leg up. Also those who can find some niche and really add value – e.g., if there is a specialized piece of software that you can master and be the go-to host for – can rise above the herd.

    It’s tough, no doubt.

    I first saved a copy of @raindog308's above advice on June 24, 2020. I keep going back to read it again. Thank you @raindog308!

    @jason5545 I wish you good luck! :)

    Thanks, basically @raindog308 's quote summarised it all, I will just be a one-man business, in terms of the service, I am just not able to compete with the big one, and this was my concern before I joined LET.but after I joined LET, I saw there are still many interesting hosting providers are providing interesting hosting services, for example, @Cam and @Abd 's super low prices VPS/NAT VPS, @NetDynamics24 's FTP only hosting, @PulsedMedia 's seedbox service, all of this are unique for me if I didn't join LET, But this all open my mind, so there may have a chance because TW's market is more towards traditional web/VPS hosting basically none of them are specialized hosting like above, so if I can start specialized services to enter it, it may work.
    Now my obstacle is, the many kinds of licensing fees, WHMCS, virtualitor, and if web hosting, direct admin, this all ain't cheap. And local customers still prefer local servers instead of oversea ones. These are currently the obstacles I could think of. In the beginning, I can coordinate with a web designer to gain some customers to overcome this, because if you are a web design company most of them don't care where your server is, as long as your service is stable. But if today you are finding a web services/VPS by yourself, your goal is to find the server nearest to you.
    After that, then I can try to do something that doesn't exist within TW market yet. And one benefit for me is, that I speak Chinese.
    Thanks for all of your wishing guys.

    In any starter host or planing to be one , also consider anti ddos protection most website if they have traffic are prune to be down so need more training and solid network framework in order to make it possible.

    Yeah,ddos protection is a important aspect too, although most providers here are using cloudflare only, some premium provider provide real ddos protection, but only a few of them.

  • rustelekomrustelekom Member, Patron Provider

    First of all, I would like to wish you good health!

    It's great that even in this situation you don't lose hope and want to do good for yourself and others!

    The bad thing is that a standard commercial company is not very willing to hire employees even with much lesser problems. Even just people over 45 already have employment problems in many countries. So historically, companies count on a healthy Barbie or a healthy Kenny and most legislation is usually designed for just such people. They've been trying to change that recently, but in my opinion progress is far from being made.

    In many countries there are special social services that help people with health problems with employment. Have you tried such services?

    There are also various charitable foundations that can also help you to find employment.

    There is no shame or humiliation in this, you do need help and why not request it from authorized services.

    As for the business of hosting. Unfortunately, it only seems like hosting is easy and it doesn't require health. I've been in the hosting business for over 20 years and I can tell you that if you want to do your job honestly, you can't do it. I once purchased hosting from a host who was in a situation similar to yours - he had a stroke after 10 years of hosting and therefore lost the ability to continue his business.

    Hosting is a work 24x7, huge pressure on the nervous system and you're no client will never make any indulgence and do not take into account your health.

    Perhaps a job in the IT industry would suit you better. For example, it could be remote consulting, writing lectures, developing algorithms for programs, datasientist and other similar things. Those jobs that don't require you to work 24/7. Which you can do when your health allows you to do so.

    Thanked by 2jason5545 jsg
  • jason5545jason5545 Member
    edited August 2022

    @rustelekom said:
    In many countries there are special social services that help people with health problems with employment. Have you tried such services?

    There are also various charitable foundations that can also help you to find employment.

    There is no shame or humiliation in this, you do need help and why not request it from authorized services

    Yes, I had been trying our special unified service for 4 years, unfortunately no results till now.
    And the charity Foundation, yes they are available, but the work they provide is more like volunteer, not paid. Which I'm happy to do, but I will still need income at some point.

  • rustelekomrustelekom Member, Patron Provider

    @jason5545 said:

    @rustelekom said:
    In many countries there are special social services that help people with health problems with employment. Have you tried such services?

    There are also various charitable foundations that can also help you to find employment.

    There is no shame or humiliation in this, you do need help and why not request it from authorized services

    Yes, I had been trying our special unified service for 4 years, unfortunately no results till now.
    And the charity Foundation, yes they are available, but the work they provide is more like volunteer, not paid. Which I'm happy to do, but I will still need income at some point.

    That sad :( Then try look into modern IT fields - big data etc. If you can learn it you will find many offers now.

    Thanked by 1jason5545
  • jsgjsg Member, Resident Benchmarker

    @jason5545

    I'm sorry for you and I obviously wish you well.

    But I'll be the one who tells it clearly: This is a hard business and people paying $2 per month tend to quite unconditionally expect and demand good service and support basically around the clock.

    To write some nice sounding (and probably even sincere) sentences here is cheap, in fact free. As soon as money enters the game and the game is called business the situation changes dramatically.

    So my advice is this: Don't go alone! Find a few people going with you. And well noted that addresses only the business side. Looking at the personal aspects I'd advise you to find an environment that can and does protect and support you. If I were in your shoes I might, for example, look for some organization for disabled people who has (or maybe inspired by you starts) a project that helps people like you to start and run a small business.

    Or maybe, just maybe, some provider here are willing to help you, maybe in the form of a kind of sub-division doing some kind of "benevolent hosting".

  • BlaZeBlaZe Member, Host Rep

    Would not advise you to go into the hosting biz since the amount of stress is not worth it in the end.

    Instead, and this is coming from a very loose assumption of your challenges & possibilities, why not teach other kids with disabilities about tech related skills. I mean not very deep but just scratching the surface so that they can figure out where they fit in. Your story indeed is inspiring, it may genuinely help others.

    Good luck.

    Thanked by 2jason5545 ericls
  • @BlaZe said:
    Would not advise you to go into the hosting biz since the amount of stress is not worth it in the end.

    Instead, and this is coming from a very loose assumption of your challenges & possibilities, why not teach other kids with disabilities about tech related skills. I mean not very deep but just scratching the surface so that they can figure out where they fit in. Your story indeed is inspiring, it may genuinely help others.

    Good luck.

    This is also what currently I'm doing too.🙂

  • ericlsericls Member, Patron Provider

    Mad respect! May God bless you, protect you and show you the way.

  • ArkasArkas Moderator
    edited August 2022

    @jason5545 Super respect to you!!! :star:
    I would suggest instead of going with the ultra competitive full host business model, that you first try the very competitive reseller host route. You can offer basic support and expand as you learn, and focus on marketing your site.
    I am sure some hosting providers here would be more than happy to provide you with either a free account to start with or an account at cost with a better earning margin, correct providers? :smile:

  • Man, you are fantastic! Respect, respect and respect!

    Let me know if you will need any kind of help :)

    It could be we could also figure something out together! Looking ppl for a while.

  • 👍

  • raindog308raindog308 Administrator, Veteran

    @jason5545 said: So I decided if I can do something on my own, the first thing that pops up in my head, is to create a hosting business, running on my own, so I work on my own. There are still many obstacles, but I believe that I can go over them one day if things go well.

    No. Stop. This is lunacy. Your disability has nothing to do with it. I'd give the same advice to anyone thinking of starting a hosting business in 2022. If my child came to me and asked for financing to start a hosting business, I would say no. It was a great business to jump in 30 years ago. Not today.

    It is also incredibly stressful and requires 24x7x365 attention, which is not a health burden you need.

    @jason5545 said: I tried to self-study a long ago, and I encountered an issue from my end, I can follow the book, but I can't create even a snippet on my own, I tried many ways and help from outside, but it just seems no way of getting it.

    Different people learn in different ways. The most expensive option would be formal education but honestly if you have any aptitude, an online course could serve you well. What has been your experience trying various courses on YouTube?

    @jason5545 said: The problem with local businesses is even if you could do the work, they will be worried about that because your body's specialty that, if something went wrong, they have some responsibility to it too, so the replies always are:" we are impressive about your but we don't have the environment to let a disabilities person work, maybe the future will." then that's it.

    Remote work is everywhere but you have to be competitive.

    Do you feel you have any aptitude for computers?

    If no, I would find something else. There are all kinds of work that does not require any physical abilities - accounting/finance, counseling, etc. I know a guy who's pulling down $200K a year selling final expense insurance over the phone. I couldn't do that job, but on the other hand, he couldn't do mine.

    But if you feel you have an aptitude for computing, why not:

    1. Pick a popular programming language and master it.
    2. Find some open source projects and contribute to them. Or start a project and pour all your time into it and make something impressive.
    3. Now you have a resume and genuine marketable skills that you can leverage into a job as a programmer.

    As long as you can communicate (your written communication seems fine, and I'm assuming you can verbally communicate) and can code, you can find work. But there are plenty of other options in the world as well.

  • emgemg Veteran

    ^^^^ This is good, common sense advice. It is the best post I have seen in this thread so far.

    Thanked by 1jason5545
  • jason5545jason5545 Member
    edited August 2022

    @raindog308 said:

    @jason5545 said: So I decided if I can do something on my own, the first thing that pops up in my head, is to create a hosting business, running on my own, so I work on my own. There are still many obstacles, but I believe that I can go over them one day if things go well.

    No. Stop. This is lunacy. Your disability has nothing to do with it. I'd give the same advice to anyone thinking of starting a hosting business in 2022. If my child came to me and asked for financing to start a hosting business, I would say no. It was a great business to jump in 30 years ago. Not today.

    It is also incredibly stressful and requires 24x7x365 attention, which is not a health burden you need.

    @jason5545 said: I tried to self-study a long ago, and I encountered an issue from my end, I can follow the book, but I can't create even a snippet on my own, I tried many ways and help from outside, but it just seems no way of getting it.

    Different people learn in different ways. The most expensive option would be formal education but honestly if you have any aptitude, an online course could serve you well. What has been your experience trying various courses on YouTube?

    @jason5545 said: The problem with local businesses is even if you could do the work, they will be worried about that because your body's specialty that, if something went wrong, they have some responsibility to it too, so the replies always are:" we are impressive about your but we don't have the environment to let a disabilities person work, maybe the future will." then that's it.

    Remote work is everywhere but you have to be competitive.

    Do you feel you have any aptitude for computers?

    If no, I would find something else. There are all kinds of work that does not require any physical abilities - accounting/finance, counseling, etc. I know a guy who's pulling down $200K a year selling final expense insurance over the phone. I couldn't do that job, but on the other hand, he couldn't do mine.

    But if you feel you have an aptitude for computing, why not:

    1. Pick a popular programming language and master it.
    2. Find some open source projects and contribute to them. Or start a project and pour all your time into it and make something impressive.
    3. Now you have a resume and genuine marketable skills that you can leverage into a job as a programmer.

    As long as you can communicate (your written communication seems fine, and I'm assuming you can verbally communicate) and can code, you can find work. But there are plenty of other options in the world as well.

    I actually don't know what counts as aptitude, but your words let me start to rethink.
    Because of my situation, I always thought my path only have computer related stuff,
    So I begin familiarizing computers quite early, and never think of other options, aptitude? I don't think I have one with the computer, but I can say still, I still feel I'm motivated by it. Otherwise, I wouldn't study and got certified eventually.
    The people around me always said you are good at computers, so you have the aptitude, and you should also be good at coding.
    Yes, in the beginning, I do think that I have the aptitude. before I tried coding, the way I try to deal with computer issues, it's to troubleshoot the issue on my own and learn from the mistake. The result is usually quite rewarding. but during coding, when it had a guide, I am fine with it, looking like I understand, it all changes when without guides, I had difficulty creating from scratch. I can follow the example and understand the example quite fine, but I do my own, I just have difficulty making my own snippet.
    Now I am thinking maybe the way I'm studying coding is the main issue, I need to make changes to find a way that is ultimately suitable for me, and I am continually finding one. Maybe I will found one with AI or something.
    Thanks
    Jason

  • Now my obstacle is, the many kinds of licensing fees, WHMCS, virtualitor, and if web hosting, direct admin, this all ain't cheap.

    @Francisco's BuyVM.net provides free DA and Blesta with all vps plans. If you add a slab to it, you get a good storage for low price.

    Thanked by 1jason5545
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