Re: water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink.
On Wed, 11 Apr 2001, Kevin Stokes wrote:
>
> There are people who care deeply about Linux and Free Software. I am not
> one of them. I wish Linux the best, but I'm not ready to invest hours of my
> time writing doc.
>
Would it really takes hours to write "In order to do this, I did this,
this, and this"? I don't think it would. If enough people would make
that modest investment of time, it would outstrip the documentation
efforts of even the biggest software company.
> You may think of me a selfish bastard, because I want to use Linux, but I
> don't want to help build it. My viewpoint is different. I thought the
> Free Software people didn't want payment, but now I'm supposed to have a
> guilt trip if I don't write doc?
>
I don't know your parents well enough to comment on the bastard part, but
if you want to take without giving, that pretty much is the textbook
definition of selfish.
Have you actually read anything about what Free Software people want? (Oh
I forgot you've got no time, sorry.) It's about community. This ranges
from hippy, "we are the world" visions of social utopia to the pragmatic
insight that if you give you are more likely to get stuff back. The
common thread in these views is exchange. The freedom in free software is
the freedom to share. That the software costs no money is incidental to
its' main purpose.
> Or perhaps it is because I have a suggestion, that makes me a selfish
> bastard?
Because you expect other people to implement your suggestion while you do
nothing. Like I'm completely at sea when it comes to automobiles. If
it's more complicated than pumping gas, I have to get my brother-in-law to
help. But at least I stand there and pass him spanners and things. To go
inside and watch TV while he does all the work would be crass beyond
belief.
Except for the happy occasion when I can do it as part of my day job, the
work I do for Debian is done in the middle of the night. After a full day
of paying the rent and after attending to my family. Don't tell me about
how busy you are. I'm busier.
> I'm hardly suggesting newbie doc because I expect somebody to
> write it and give to me.
Then what? How is this suggestion supposed to amount to anything? I
suggest we have world peace and free coca-cola on demand. Unless I work
for that, it ain't going to happen.
[...]
> As I said, I merely installed Linux on a resurrected computer that had
> been retired as a lark. I'm not a devotee. However, it really struck me
> that a crucial ingredient to Linux's success is missing. What I'm trying
> to do is be helpful. Kind of like saying, 'Hey, pal, I don't know if you
> noticed or not, but your boots are the wrong feet.'
>
> THe response might be. 'Shut up, you loser. I can wear my boots on my
> hands if I want to.', or the response might be, 'So that's why my boots
> haven't been that successful. They hurt my feet like crazy!'. In either
> case, I wouldn't help the man take of his boots and put them on the right
> way, and most men wouldn't want my help.
>
Except in this case these are YOUR boots on YOUR feet. Or a more apt
analogy: Linux is like a village common. You've heard of the economic
concept of the "tragedy of the commons" right? If too many people take
from a public resource without giving back, it swiftly gets destroyed.
--
Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar@debian.org>
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