On 13/08/2005, at 9:36 AM, Steve Langasek wrote:
I believe it's also a staple of the Open Source community that participants must be largely self-actualizing, and that this is a necessary and desirable element of the culture, so I find it hard to usefully respond to comments of "I'm here, how can I help?".
I have found it an extremely useful comment. It rarely fails to get a response. There are a _lot_ of people who appreciate a helping hand, and nobody who hasn't needed one at some stage in their lives.
As to self-actualization, it's very high up on the hierarchy of human needs. It's all very well to expect self-actualization from people who have the necessary confidence and skills, and the cultural background to support it. Many cultures actively suppress self- actualization.
In summary, you can't expect it of people who don't have the resources. We can do a lot to help them build up those resources.
from Clytie (vi-VN, Vietnamese free-software translation team / nhóm Việt hóa phần mềm tự do)
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/vi-VN