Great post Rion - nice to make your acquaintance and thanks for turning up the -v.
One thing I try to express to people is how everyone benefits from the efforts and the vision of the Open Source community whether or not they use it for an OS. Windows would not be, dare I say, as "good" as it is without the OS community constantly breathing down it's neck. It's kept them more honest than otherwise, I think. When Apple was still at 11 bucks a share and switching to a Unix/Mach based OS I remember thinking "How smart this company is in making this move". Me? Not so smart for not picking up stock. I thought I was doing well with Redhat and in fact I was doing well in tripling my investment. That said, although I use Ubuntu and Arch mostly, I still need Windows for my Architectural software package because it is PC only and that's fine. I'll survive.They've (MS) made some improvements totally out of necessity and they were very smart in doing so. After installing the Win7 beta trial I let it lapse and did not upgrade because, frankly, Ubuntu 10.4 and Arch (when I feel like tinkering) I like even better. I think that one day, not so far into the future, it is inevitable that most software will be Open. Not so much for the fact that it is free but because it is good and I don't mean "good enough". I could buy Win7 but I've tried it and I instead PREFER to use Linux whenever I can. Open source is one of the main drivers in software development today to my mind and proprietary companies have to keep on their toes constantly. Personally, I think they're a bit scared. Of those that visited rt100 most are running Linux but a few Macs and Windows boxes as well as an iphone or two. Heck, I'm on Vista right now because I'm supposed to be working on some plan changes on this remodel that I'm on but I'm taking a break. It's a good project. An addition, some roof raising and interior alterations, but it started the way I start 'em all. By assessing what I have to start with and compiling a "wish list" with the clients and mixing it all together. Only then can I unlock the potential and create a vision for what I will be building. Works that way for lots of thing now that I think of it. On Sun, Sep 19, 2010 at 7:12 PM, Rion D'Luz <[email protected]> wrote: > Hail Vaguers: > > Interesting thread by my measurement: > (wc -c orig.post > 140 ) { interest++; } > (wc -w reply.post > wc -w orig.post) { interest ++; } > > Looking through years worth of past posts, the usual fare is short > observations > warranting short responses. Sometimes, real conversations get started that > lead somewhere; but as exception to the rule. > This indicates to me that vague is used mostly just to 'say Hi and stay in > the loop'; and maybe ask/answer a ? or 2 > if it does not require lengthy investment in words. > > What makes this thread interesting to me (thanks JSled) is that it > addresses our existentialism vis-a-vis > how we identify ourselves and where incentivization lies in the belonging. > In asking about "VAGUE", Josh asks, I think, where our values lie, both > within our group and relative to the Public Domain. > We, presumably, enjoy the company we keep here; but how has that translated > itself over the years? Is random pres and > chit-chat over beers enough to be sustainable? We have common-ground, even > while possibly having competing interests. > (Has anyone herefound a job or directly collaborated with other members in > ways that have resulted in improving economic viability, for instance?) > > Camps have been demarcated between "advocates" and "hacker-space"; > internal-vs-external for some time, in trying to > answer the "what are we about" ? over the years. I know that for me, is is > all about <b>opensource</b>. period. > Without FLOSS, i would not be computing, would not have the ability to do > what i want. I think many would concur, despite > not necessarily being overtly involved in its propagation. > > This is because we, ourVAGUEselves, are so specialized that regardless of > overlap, we probably do not uses each others' tools > despite our interest in them. JSled does JUnit test, RBennet makes SIP > boxen, someone else does EMR or GIS mapping, whatever. > > Our internal diversity means that however interesting a presentation on > Rosegarden may be, the likelihood of members racing going home and using > it enough to hurdle the curves is pretty low; compared to, say, a pres for > composers/arrangers, musicians, etc.. who most certainly > have analog tools, and may be interested enough in switching as to actually > use and maybe adopt it. > > I realize, after spending some time promoting the concept of VOSSE, that > blowing the 'advocate' horn strikes some people as so much > noise pollution. Not to appear all "henny-penny", but for anyone following > /. or techdirt on the horror stories of recent note > related to IntellectualProperty, Copyright and Trademark Infringement, > etc... the drive to control and filter the 'net, to remove > choice from the enduser, to legislate or treatise (ACTA) devices that > empower old-media and hollywood at the cost of the Public Domain: > > With that in mind, and as a direct counter-action, I propose "Random Acts > of Opensource" as a possible remedy for both the > long-term viability of both our group and the environment we've labored > hard to make. That is what the stakes are for me. > > It may be (less) hard to wrap ones mind around the possibility, however > distant, that > if FLOSS does not gain greater mind-share in the public-eye that we, or our > hacking successors, may lose the greater and best parts of it > to the fear-mongering corporatists ("Opensource enables pedo and > terrorists. RMS is the devil. Geist is a dark prince, we coders are all > henchmen and pirates." A few short years ago I would have laughed at the > absurdity, now I can provide the quotes verbatim. > > As rob mehner insightfully points out: answers are everywhere, .com's pay > (cheaply) for ppl to write them (how2.com, ehow...) > Locality (the "taste of place") has no special meaning in this regard and > this listserv is often not the most suitable forum to > get answers to many of our technical ?'s ; which makes VAGUE's > value-proposition one of locality and proximity. > > So for me, it boils down to whether VAGUE will remain a walled-garden for > its members to 'hang-out' or will it serve some > definitive role in trying to ensure the survival of the platform(S) upon > which it bases its' existence; > either effective advocacy or "'Yar matey, we're all pirates on this boat." > > Happy coding, all. > > > Rion > > > On Friday 17 September 2010, Sam Hooker wrote: > > ----- Marc Farnum Rendino <[email protected]> wrote: > > > I think you've identified a problem (low activity) and a solution > > > state (new members), however: > > > > > > I believe that would take more than a name change. > > > > > > And the "more" is the critical part, not the name change. :) > > > > Agreed, to a large extent. As Josh and others point out, the only way a > special-interest community survives is if there's, well, interest. If *we* > want for there to be a regional group focused on [supertopic here], *we* > need to either provide or provision* the content. This problem is neither > unique to VAGUE nor technology UGs in general. There have been times when a > small subset seemed juiced enough to consistently solicit (cajole, really) > VAGUErants into making presos. Each time I've seen that happen, thought, > it's quickly devolved into "Josh mobilizing the group AND the presenter". > The coefficient of static friction on this crowd is amazing. ;-) > > > > * Don't forget that we could invite others in to do our dirty work! > > > > I don't mean to threadjack into a lovefest for jsled (however > well-deserved such a thing may be); only to point out that communities > crumble when they lean too heavily on a single person to muster all the > energy and purpose. What happens when Josh finally throws up his hands and > says, "To hell with you all"? We could rely on a string of Benevolent Cruise > Directors to sustain our community, but there's no guarantee that the next > one is waiting in the wings. There have always been "hot spots" of activity > and chatter among the membership, for as long as I've been participating. > This is natural and points the way toward something self-sustaining. We just > need more than one guy who takes personal responsibility for the well-being > of the organization to get closer to the sustainable ideal. > > > > > I suggest that the name change should be a side issue which doesn't > > > detract from the central point of increasing activity and attracting > > > new members. > > > > This is where I diverge from Marc, slightly. Language is powerful. A name > that more-closely defines our shared vision for the group could go a long > way toward 1) widening the current membership's imaginations, when it comes > to developing ideas for pertinent content, and 2) broadening the base of new > users finding us through [search engine of choice], who might otherwise pass > us up as a bunch of suspenders-wearing graybeards stuck reminiscing about > System V. (With apologies to the suspenders-wearing graybeards stuck > reminiscing about System V among us.) > > > > I *do not* think, however, that discussion of a new focus for the group > should distract from kicking off the 2010-2011 "VAGUE Season" with any of > the fine presos that have been offered so far. (Or any others that may be > lurking out there, waiting for the right moment. You know who you are: the > same people they're always talking about on public radio during Pledge > Drive, waiting to swoop in and save the day at the last minute with your > contribution... :-)) > > > > All that said, I can do something on federated identity management and > web single-sign-on with Shibboleth[1], if there's interest. > > > > > > $0.02, > > > > -sth > > > > [1]http://shibboleth.internet2.edu > > > > sam hooker|[email protected]|http://www.noiseplant.com > > Sorte supernorum scriptor libri potiatur! > > > > > > -- > Best of luck (and I hope you don't need it) > > email: riondluz_at_gmail.com > web: http://dluz.com/ > AIM/Jabber/Google: riondluz > Phone: 802.644.2255 > http://www.linkedin.com/pub/6/126/769 > > > L I N U X .~. > Choice /V\ > of a GNU /( )\ > Generation ^^-^^ > POSIX > RULES > +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ >
