[aklug] Rebasing the discussion

Greetings:

We've definitely gone off on a hell of a tangent on this discussion, and
from some of the responses I fear people may misinterpret my position. So,
I'd like a chance to refocus the discussion on the core question, originally
presented by Jon: what is our goal?

Before answering that I would take a step back further and ask who (AKLUG)
are we? The obvious answer is that we're a Linux advocacy group. At its
most shallow definition that means we're just a local PR outfit. At a
deeper level, though, I think it was intended that we be part of the Linux
and OSS community.

I don't think anyone here would deny that we are or should be part of the
"community" and community-minded. But I'm not sure everyone here has
understood the implications.

Let's go back a moment to Eric Raymond's "The Cathedral and the Bazaar".
Linux, according to his analogy, is the bazaar model. A lot of OSS software
is also developed in the bazaar model. The bazaar is that chaotic market
place with a hundred stalls, with vendors buying and selling, sometimes
combining the wares of other stalls into new wares in their stall. It's a
collaborative environment where the product is dynamically shaped by both
buyers and sellers, each according to their whims.

Now, it is definitely possible for an individual to come into the bazaar,
purchase something from a stall, and go home. That's a prototypical
consumer, not a member of the bazaar community. Shopping at Walmart in the
Valley makes me no more a member of that community than shopping here in
Anchorage does. Consumption is a one-way relationship, a unidirectional
transaction. Relationships aren't built that way, nor does any meaningful
collaboration.

And that's the point of the bazaar. Some of us may think we're members of
the Linux/OSS community merely because we use it. But I don't think that's
the case. Users are consumers. You may tell your friends about the great
product that you purchased at the bazaar, but that doesn't make you a member
of that bazaar, either. In order to be a member of the community you need
to contribute, establish and nourish relationships, participate in the
development of the product.

Take Damien's desires, for example. The contribution and maintenance of
documentation is a valid participation in the bazaar. So is beta-testing
new versions of your favorite app/distro and providing feedback to the
developers. And so is slinging and releasing code.

Jon, he's just an angry bald guy. But, so am I, so I can sympathize. ;-)

So, out of this whole "RTFM == Elitism" debate we've been having my concerns
over the direction of this group has solidified somewhat. If AKLUG is truly
to be a community participant, and not just a consumer of the community
product, we cannot have as our primary focus the recruitment of more users.
Users should be welcome, certainly, but we have limited resources, limited
volunteer hours, and limited effort being put into this group. We need to
create an enticing environment for producers, builders, *participants*. And
the prerequisite to that is to develop within ourselves that level of
participation and, when others have their curiosity piqued, provide
opportunities for newcomers to participate as well.

Something just occurred to me: say Damien does write the manual, and then
we tell the newbies to read it -- does that make all of you elitists as
well? ;-)

Anyway, I'd like to see a concerted effort within the group to not breed
mere Linux consumerism, but more stalls set up in the bazaar. Thinking that
doing the former will be the gateway drug to the latter is extremely
optimistic in my mind, especially when we're not demonstrating the bazaar
ourselves. If we fail to do this we'll only end up with an extraordinarily
large, needy, and angry mob in the middle of the plaza, with perhaps only
three stalls to serve them all.

Linux and OSS will not be sustained that way. Just my $0.10.

         --Arthur Corliss
           Live Free or Die
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Received on Thu Sep 17 09:18:45 2009