On Sun, 17 Jan 2016 23:32:25 -0800 Valorie Zimmerman <valorie.zimmer...@gmail.com> wrote: <snip snip> > > why ALL Linux mailing lists seems to be going the > > route of the Dinosaurs? <snip> > I see linux lists being really vibrant, but those are the KDE and > Kubuntu lists I'm on. Those for local projects are not active. Perhaps > it is Google and the ease of talking to people anywhere, any time. IRC > is certainly still active, some forums are, and more technical groups > are using various social media as well, especially Twitter and G+. > The city of Munich is now using Kubuntu, which is cool. Some of those > Munich people sponsor a sprint annually, and some Kubuntu and Debian > people go and squash bugs with them. Brazil uses Kubuntu in their > school computers, and KDE sponsors a Latin American Akademy. I thought > I heard something about the Romanian government sponsoring linux > officially, as well. There *is* movement, but it is taking place > locally, and without much fanfare. > Google Summer of Code and Google Code-in, for uni and high school > students, are making a difference to the next generation. What we're > seeing in KDE is former students now mentoring. > I think the future is bright. > So, Linux is growing strongly at local level but without mailing list activity?
I am not so sure if that is the case though, some lug lists have 'flare ups" or bursts of activity but all of it is not anywhere close to what it was in the late nineties/early 2000's very few lugs still have local meetings and imho there are fewer new lug members (except maybe those that have student feeders) as many projects (like for example kde) becomes mature the growth in contributions also grow inversely. There are more and more people but fewer and fewer active LUG's (and no new LUG's to speak of) There is also strong push for millennials to Apple and to Microsoft (is windows now open source?) and Google Android, etc who all have really cool and great products - so more choice, and possibly even fewer new desktops, new servers, etc as the larger clouds start dominating the networks. Free market economy in action, which small company wants to operate their own server(s) at the present price/costs, risks, etc. More and more companies are using Google and Microsoft for email services daily and small ISP's are declining in numbers. I think it is possible that we as a community has shifted our focus as we all thought we knew that a monopoly was all but destroyed. things change though and new dangers arise, dangers that have learned to be far more insidious and much less obvious. What truly concerns me is the very real possibility of a future with fewer Linux servers, much fewer Linux desktops and much less freedom and a fairly apathetic community.
