Hi Jon,
Thank you for that. :)
Second observation: A lot of what NGOs need from Plone is very, very
similar
to what non-NGOs need.
While nonprofits are not always "early adopters" of technology, an
increasing number are becoming quite sophisticated, and smaller
nonprofits
are often nimble enough to move quite quickly to adopt new practices if
they
really believe in their value.
...
Third observation: NGOs and open-source have compatible values.
Many NGOs value openness, sharing and community, just like open-source
advocates. While most NGOs aren't "software ideologues" they are
generally
receptive to the kinds of collaborative relationships that open-source
software developers seek, and are often more than willing to share and
share
alike.
This to me is a big part of the existence of this list. NGOs it seems are
more open about their needs and about their weaknesses, and more willing
to share their mistakes as lessons learnt rather than embarassments. At
Ploneability, Oxfam GB did this wonderfully. As Paul said, the lessons
Rommily & co shared would probably be worth £1000/hour had that same
knowledge come from someone like my present employer. :)
We, the Plone community, and the Plone-NGO community have a lot to learn
from each other. And we can try to organise ourselves around some tasks
that may end up improving Plone itself as well.
Fifth observation: One of Plone's greatest assets is its stable, mature
and
sophisticated community. If you haven't yet read Martin Aspeli's masters
thesis on the Plone community, I can't recommend it highly enough.
(http://dissertation.martinaspeli.net/)
*blush*
I'm just glad someone read it :)
Martin
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