Oh, looks like I've missed out on a lot of fun here.  That's what I get for promising not to be at the computer for too long on the weekend.  Real life is so much more engaging.

Anyway....

For several years, I was de facto spokesman for Linux at IBM Philippines, and in that time I've had many occasions to be interviewed by journalists.  Some of them have even become friends.  I noticed that the same questions would come up over and over again.  If you have to cover the basics each time, it's much harder to get to the point of what you're trying to say.

Now, if you have been interviewed by a journalist and experienced something to the contrary, I certainly would like to know about it.

Besides, one of the professional journalist's primary concerns is beating the deadline.  Even if he knew what open source was all about, I think it would make his job easier if he could just cut, paste, and modify from the definitions in the primer.

Understand also that majority of journalists do not have an IT background.  Journalists represent Everyman, and the simpler you can explain it to them, the simpler they can explain it to their readers. 

If it bothers you so much that it should be titled "Primer for Journalists", feel free to call it anything you want.  "DAIYEN FOOELS" or "FOOBIE BLETCH" is just as acceptable so long as it serves the purpose intended.

As to whether the focus of the documents should be Linux/open source or PLUG, as per the nature of the organization as an advocacy group, I think it should be the former.  In advancing the Linux and free and open source software, the advancement of the organization follows.

Now, let me throw down the gauntlet here.  If you really want to help, then:

1) Rephrase the portions of the primer that you think are unclear.  Cut, slice, dice, extend, even come up with an entirely new document.  Treat it as open source.  Feel free to modify and redistribute.  Don't send comments back to me so I can incorporate what I think you mean into the document.

2) Write about open source activities you were in.   For example, up to now, we still do not have coverage of Adamson and the 1st Quarter Free Technical Seminar.

3) Write about your open source experiences.  Don't just email commentary and responses to the mailing list, write feature-quality articles that non-Linux people can appreciate.  I already have links with PC Magazine and Computerworld, and I am trying to get links to the dailies.  You write 'em, we get 'em published, and you get paid.

--
Dominique Gerald M. Cimafranca
http://villageidiotsavant.blogspot.com
Dumaguete City
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