Exclusive Fedora Interview, - With project leader, Paul W. Frields

[Jeff Spaleta]

2008/5/24 Scott Thistle <scott at tekkie.org>:

> I just don't understand why a lot of companies and papers think that distros
> are pitted against each other. The single most aggravating statement I ever
> hear is when a company's #1 goal is "Increase shareholder value". Wow. I
> hate those three words.


It's because for the traditional software 'marketplace' it is about
competition. And the technical laypress are deeply rooted in the
experience of that traditional way of how software is developed and
marketed.  The machinery or software review is geared around things
you can purchase in a store, so you see open source software reviews
is approached  like its a console game title or an electronic gadget
or even a car.

We speak a completely different language, we speak a language of
'coopetition.'  I think Paul's imagery of a community of farmers
helping each other out at a barn raising, has a lot of appeal.  There
are probably some other farming analogies that we could use in talking
points. Things like long term sustainability versus short term yields,
which

The laypress by and large don't understand how 'coopetition' is meant
to work, or what sustainability means, or where the real value in the
open source process lies...in the ability to contribute beyond laying
down cash on a counter.  Its a disruptive concept for the software
marketplace, and if Fedora's marketteers do one thing, and one thing
only.. I'd want it to be to educate the laypress about coopetition and
the power of contribution.

It will take a multi-release effort before we see a substantial change
in the laypress.  I hope some of the talking points this time around
are remembered by particular people in the laypress, so we see the
quality of their questions improve next time around.  I'm thinking
about creating a methodology so I can rank particular laypress
'journalists' are doing in terms of understanding concepts like
coopetition and sustainability.

-jef