This site and server runs on open source software. I’m writing this blog entry using open source software. Our business runs predominately on open source software.
I use open source software at work and at play. I also use proprietary products.
My desktop in work still runs Windows XP and most of my work mail goes through Outlook.
It’s not likely that this will change anytime soon, though it might.
I’m involved in several open source projects and communities and am more than happy to recommend LAMP.
I love to see individuals and companies embracing open source solutions. Not because I am driven by some kind of religious fervour, but because I strongly believe that the OSS community is strong and produces some fantastic solutions to both business and personal issues.
Every now and again you see reports of the level of illegal software usage in business and when you take into consideration the costs of getting caught it can send shivers down your spine. If business owners cannot afford to buy MS Office licenses for all their staff, then why don’t they use an alternative? It would save them a lot of money and headaches.
But I feel I digress.
Much as I love the open source community I sometimes find that it’s more visible members do little for it. Sometimes I feel that the open source community is elitist and that some of its members can do it more harm than good.
Companies, such as Microsoft, spend millions of Euro every year “fighting” the spread of open source and yet some OSS users are probably doing more to keep people away by themselves than any advertising campaign from Redmond could ever do.
Yesterday evening someone posted to the ILUG mailing list requesting information on open source adoption. If you are interested in finding out about OSS usage, then that list is probably the best place to start. Or is it? While some of the more mature list members may have replied to the person’s questions one insisted on being downright insulting. I am not on the committee of ILUG, but if I was I would have felt obliged to issue an apology on behalf of the group.
What makes this worse is that the consititution of ILUG is very clear about its aims:
2. Aims and Objectives.
The aims and objectives of the society shall be as follows:
1. To increase and promote awareness of the Linux operating
system within both the home and corporate sectors of the
Irish Computing industry.
2. To provide a forum to discuss and gain experience of the
Linux operating system.
3. To help educate people in the usage of Linux and related
software.
4. To promote Irish contributions to the kernel source code
development.
(see full text)
And this was not an isolated incident. It’s happened before and it will probably happen again.
How can a group whose aim is to promote linux and open software achieve anything or expect to be taken seriously if new users, or the vaguely curious, are treated in such a rude, disrespectful and immature manner?
Every community, regardless of its remit will contain a cross-sectiin of society.
This includes elitist gobshites, people who think they’re funny when they’re not, trolls, flamers, lurkers, etc.
This also includes a large proportion of genuine, helpful, sensible people. It’s what you’d expect, which is why the very clever idiots come as more of a shock. As a member of that community you probably feel a little hurt that this small percentage of excessively vocal elitist nutters are “representing” your community. I know I do.
You’d think on a list with ostensbily very clever people, they’d be able to figure out when they’re not being funny, but I’ve found that the more *some* people know (or think they know) about large topics, such as GNU/Linux, the less they know about themselves.
Mbf – thanks for your comments. What worries me is when this kind of thing happens to the innocent onlooker. If someone wants to conduct themselves in this manner on a private mailing list then it is possibly not as potentially damaging, although I would still contend that it is not acceptable.
The thing that gets me is that the same people who attack and insult people are probably the ones that get most upset with the lack of empathy from the mainstream IT users …