Where Fedora Went Wrong (nice conclusion)
Ric Moore
wayward4now at gmail.com
Fri May 18 00:14:41 UTC 2007
On Fri, 2007-05-18 at 00:03 +0200, Matej Cepl wrote:
> On 2007-05-17, 17:08 GMT, Ric Moore wrote:
> > It could happen that there are users that have no business
> > messing with anything and we'd all be properly grateful that
> > they don't. <g> But a "should" puts the onus of active
> > participation on them and then they do. Which results in
> > a batch of emails to the list to remedy a blown up system.
> > THEN, after much grief for everyone, they leave to freshly
> > install Ubuntu or SuSe and claim it is SO much better, as it "works",
> > out of the box. Sure it does, they haven't screwed with it yet.
>
> I still think they SHOULD help, but note that I have put there
> money as an option how to help. As one of my American friends
> said ``With the invention of money, phrase `Thank you' lost its
> meaning.'' ;-)
>
> > Plus, a newbie needs to have the space to actually use and
> > become familiar with Linux, before anyone can expect them to
> > actually be grateful for anything and appreciate it. I think it
> > would be better to leave the moral "shoulds" at the door. So,
> > Mauriat might have been asking "Must I?" in a completely
> > different light, as I have outlined. The basic "morality play"
> > of the Linux Religion becomes more apparent with exposure and
> > use. :)
>
> Of course, and I forgot that this is the list where even not-Red
> Hat employees and somebody else than hard-code Linux geeks could
> happen. No, I mean there is of course almost unlimited tolerance
> for people to learn, and yes this whole stuff is free and there
> are really no strings attached. Visible or invisible. Just go,
> use it and have a fun.
>
> However, there is somewhere in the back of my mind that ``Freely
> you have received, freely give.'' (Matthew 10:8) I mean, I don't
> except from anybody to help, they are under no obligation
> whatsoever (neither legal nor moral) to do anything, but for me
> this verse was one of the reasons why I spend so much time on
> helping Linux community in past ten years.
I agree with you whole-heartedly. 100%. The newbies will come around to
that perspective as well, as they "witness" the contributions (acts) of
others and learn of "Gift Debt" as a method of free-exchange. But if it
is forced or expected (as in a "Should") , then it is no longer a gift
nor "Free", as in the spirit of your quote from in Matthew 10:8.
Thus it was in the beginning and thus it is now, Linux is free to anyone
of any ability. It's not, however, "Free Beer" as there is a measure of
Faith inherent among us all that others will provide as they can. I
thank the Creator that he created people smarter than me. :) Rev. Ric
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