[Novalug] [Dclug] [Ma-linux] [FOSE] Starting the discussion
Beartooth
beartooth@Beartooth.Info
Sun Oct 5 12:04:18 EDT 2008
On Sat, 4 Oct 2008, Kevin Cole wrote:
> [Leaping into the flames, with "youthful indiscretion"...]
Well, I can't remember a time when I could claim
"youthful" anything; but here's a question I haven't yet seen
others answering.
[...]
> What about a "Why we volunteer" message? How many groups are
> there who are non-profit, not selling anything? There's Web
> Women always close at hand, but who else besides them and us?
> Any idea? The volunteer aspect may be the way to encourage
> people to think about why we're handing out things gratis
[...]
First off, I *like* that idea.
Second, what do you mean by "groups"? Is a mailing list
or a web forum a group? How about a cooperating set of
developers? Or a LUG?
If I tell my newsreader (Pan) to find group names
containing "linux" it gets over 1100 of them; Google Groups lists
over 5500; and so on, and so on.
Point is, any way you slice it, there are more than you
can shake a stick at. And that's just with the character string
"linux", not even looking for Gnu, BSD, etc.
So forget how many, except perhaps in a *short*
parenthesis, and stick to your main idea : *why* do people
volunteer?
FLOSS is a global phenomenon, after all -- one that's in
its Elizabethan Age, and numbers are the least of it. Bring
*that* home to them, and let their herd instinct take it from
there.
--
Beartooth of Bear's End, Squirreler, Historian of Tongues
What do they know of country, who only country know?
More information about the Novalug
mailing list