As I said in the very first posting for this thread, I'm looking for someone to code a 'supervisor' program to 'sit on top of' a pre-existing distro - thus it would use mostly pre-existing code. As the function of the ETS is only to >recover data< - not to fix anything - like the TRK, it likely is not that big a job.

Elsewhere in this thread, I also mention that I've been told it's a relatively simple job, by programmers who didn't have the time to do it, but did say they knew >how< to do it. I also have a PowerPoint show that enumerates the main screens and functions of the program.

What's "vague" about that?

Do you have a fax #?

Will you accept the NDA that way, or by e-mailed PDF?

Emailed PDF is fine for both the NDA and your ID. Or a *.jpg/bmp for both. I fax through my computer, and have to be in front of it to do it.

Please give me your email, and I will send you a MS Word doc that is laid out better than the ASCII I posted here.

My email is: jhecht@ix.netcom.com - thanks!

(sigh) I'm offering market-rate pay for an ethical - one might even say broadly useful - Linux programming project, and no one has even signed my (very reasonable) NDA to get the details.

Are you all too busy - or what?

But the only way I can send the required document would be by using the internet. I don't have a coping machine or FAX. I live very far from a post office and the gas is killing me.

Will you accept an online NDA??

As the post to the thread two above yours said:

Emailed PDF is fine for both the NDA and your ID. Or a *.jpg/bmp for both. I fax through my computer, and have to be in front of it to do it.

Please give me your email, and I will send you a MS Word doc that is laid out better than the ASCII I posted here.

My email is: jhecht@ix.netcom.com - thanks!

It pays to read the whole thread (grin).

After a meeting last night, I now have >TWO< backers for this project, and still no (viable) programmer. You'd think it would be the other way around...

Will the people who expressed interest, but who have not signed my NDA, or not provided ID, >please< follow through, so we can actually start working?

Maybe I can appeal to your patriotism - I'm determined to keep all the work on the ETS inside the USA - no steenking outsourcing here. This is not altruism; there is no effective way to enforce a US NDA agreement with someone outside the country. And it keeps the investment money here in the US. Our current US balance of trade is a short and slippery slope to national bankruptcy. I want to do my microscopic part to help correct this.

And again I say to you that the job is not well scoped. The last time I said this your response was "lots of scope info in the first post". No there isn't. Basically you want to place an unspecified capability to recover data into a recovery CD that boots into a tailored Linux distro.

This is not much information.

You then say; "I'll pay market rate". What, in your eyes, is that? I presently am getting $80/hr and turning away work.

Further, you say "I'll tell you more when you sign my NDA AND give me personal information (drivers license or State ID)." Your interest in my personal information at a point in time when we have no business relationship is sufficient by itself for me to lose interest. Even after we have a business relationship, you'll only get access to certain of my business information, as required to satisfy the IRS.

I have no clue whether the job you want done will take 20 hours, 50 hours, or 2000 hours. You say you think it is simple for someone who has the right skills, and I won't question that because I can't - because, as much as anything, you have not specified what the "right skills" are. You specify a Linux distro, but want to work on damaged Windows systems. This implies a need for skills with Windows file systems, and perhaps a capability to edit the registry from outside. There is a registry editor that is supposed to work from linux but the docs for it are full of caveats, and automating the process could be exciting.

Incorrect. The first post plainly says that the distro is unmodified. To wit: "The program I envision would act as a 'shell' sitting on top of an unmodified Puppy distro"

It also plainly states: "...it's a way for non-Linux users to put a Puppy Linux based CD into a Win computer that won't boot, and use it to recover data both over the Internet, and locally."

That describes both the program and its function pretty clearly in my mind.

We'd be happy to pay $80/hr - if you're good, and fast... We are also willing to discuss pay >plus< equity if that helps you.

What I want is a way to verify your legal address. Any document which does that is fine. If you send a scan of your driver's license, you are welcome to black out the numbers. Without some way to verify your address, the NDA isn't worth squat...

And FWIW, a half dozen pro Linux developers who have responded to me don't seem to have a problem with my ID request. This is from an ad I placed on Craigslist after the lack of response here.

My goal is to recover data when the hard drive's file structure is intact, but Windows will not boot. To try and do more complicates things too much for the initial iteration of the ETS program. So no need to edit the registry - that is your assumption, not my requirement... If you want more info, sign the NDA and provide me with proof of your legal residence - that could be a scan of a utility bill for all I care. If that's asking too much, I'm sorry - but other people do not think so.

John,

You mentioned two things. One was a live CD and the other was Puppy Linux but you were not wed to it.

While I've not looked at Puppy Linux lately, I recently installed Ubuntu 9.04 on a Acer Netbook with XP pre-installed. I've also used the live CD on a Toshiba Satellite.

I was impressed with three things with 9.04.

1. It was able to read and write NTFS files.

2. Creation of the live USB off the live CD was relatively easy.

3. It was able to connect to my wireless using WEP 2 from the live CD.

I am assuming that you will want to be able to restore data from systems that do not have CD drives.

Sam

John,
Here is something I put together back in '06:

http://64.124.13.3/House_Calls.html

Does your plan look somethinbg like this??

I think I will start using this instead of SystemRescueCD!

One thing to the OP. You should also get a good internationalization team, at least to check that your product's name isn't something offensive or bad in other languages, f.e: your product's current name "ETS" is the spanish word for "sexual disease".

like fatback . . . ?
uses puppy linux to recover back windows vfat - fat12, fat16, and fat32 - filesystems and partitions,
or in unix terminology vfat "slices"

but really also refers to the "slices" of the meat slab of a pig carcass . . .
i.e. used for bacon, pork rinds and lard - yecch.

I didn't mean to be rude, it's just that you'll be dealing with the "cry-baby" type of customer and believe me (I worked part-time in customer care @ Dell 2 years ago) when I tell you that the type of responses you'll be getting will likelly be very mean and nasty.