The following post is a bit of a rant. Be forewarned.

For the last two months, I have worked at the office supply store Staples. I sell electronics to the fine folks of my hometown, which includes an amazingly even mix of non-technical, semi-technical, and highly technical individuals. To all three of these categories, I have been recommending free, open source software for various reasons. It gives the user a valid alternative to expensive proprietary software, and the fact that I suggest it to people fosters a sense of trust that creates repeat business and helps with sales of our extended service plans (Staples' service plans are actually very nice, and I do genuinely consider them a good investment on most purchases). Doing this also promotes Free / Open Source software, which I advocate strongly.

Yesterday, I was informed via an anonymous note from management that this was a bad idea. I left a note of my own explaining some of my reasons (so sue me, I emphasized the ones that were beneficial to the company) and it was further clarified today that it is against nationwide corporate policy to tell customers about free alternatives to software we sell unless they specifically ask, and even then I cannot be specific; rather, I am to say something like "you *might* be able to find something on the Internet."

I was told that withholding this information was not "lying," but I think it a pretty fine line. It seems like very shaky moral ground to me.

That said, I'm redoubling my efforts to find a job that actually makes use of my degree. This is a placeholder job in the first place, and now it has the added annoyance of requiring a violation of my personal ethics. Anyone out there know of a job in software development or general IT work (admin, troubleshooting, you name it I can do it) in Western NC or that could be done remotely? I'm all ears.