[aklug] Re: Rebasing the discussion

Historically, user groups were not advocates, evangelists, etc.,
though such might belong. They were folk who hung out because they
were interested in the weird crap that each was into (and they were
pathetically lonely otherwise socially ostracized dorks....)

Somehow with the approach of the 21st century this approach has turned
outward producing monks ( in the orthodox or eastern sense), high
priests and tent evangelists.....

My intent in lobbing what seems to have been a bit of a grenade was to
perhaps hark back to earlier times, when no one I think was run off,
but user groups were not on a mission ;)

That being said I am off to my cave... Mongo just pawn......

On Sep 17, 2009, at 9:18 AM, Arthur Corliss <acorliss@nevaeh-
linux.org> wrote:

> 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 09:36:39 2009