Perhaps its the latest sasser worm, perhaps its the endless stream of spyware, adware and other unwanted crud, perhaps its the rentless Microsoft pop-ups requesting registrations, passport creation and security updates.
Or perhaps its the use of some FOSS apps like Mozilla, OpenOffice.org and GAIM on Windows and an appreciation that software can be free AND very good.
Lately more and more people have been asking me and inquiring about rolling out Linux and a FOSS desktop at their homes and offices. Its rather exciting to see people coming to me instead of me touting to people various things that happen on my FOSS desktop (Such as all the cool KDE stuff, the very good and free OOo and Mozilla, no spyware & no viruses, etc..). Awareness of FOSS has definitely increased over the past few months. I am not quite sure why — it seems like major media still downplays FOSS and Linux except for the occasional advertisement by IBM.
This is exciting. However, I wonder what the true motivations of these individuals are. Are they willing to learn the UNIX way or will they simply complain and not want to learn a different way of computing? Are they looking for a drop-in Windows replacement? Do they or do they want to understand FOSS? Does it really matter?
Unlike commercial software where there are walls that separate “users” and “developers”, FOSS breaks down those walls. Instead, many of the developers are users of the software and many users offer up additions, help and other resouces to aid in the development of the software.
This community and sharing approach to development has culminated into many great and very popular software titles. This includes software that was “opened” such as the Netscape code which formed Mozilla and is now considered by many to be the best browser for any platform, period. It also includes software that was built from the ground up in community fashion, perhaps the most popular being Linux, but KDE, Gnome, KOffice, Kontact, Apache (I believe) and others being fantastic examples of how great the FOSS community works.
Of course, many of the above listed projects were started in a time where FOSS was not on the radar of even some of today’s largest supporters such as IBM. As FOSS continues to gain marketshare, how will this shift alter development and ultimately the overall community?
In certain ways, I think having more “regular users” could be benefitial to FOSS. These “regular users” can bring many things to the community such as artistic talent, project management skills, public relations, marketing expertise, user interface design and other critical skills to the previously logical, programmer, ubergeek subculture.
Perhaps I am in the minority (I do run a tech blog), but the few times I contributed to a FOSS project, I felt proud that my contribution was being used by others in very useful and productive ways. It seems like such a great way to be involved compared to the traditional commercial concept “here is a product, give us money..”
While this contribution model works great for a subculture that is very interested in the ideals and motives of FOSS, as it continues to press into the mainstream, I think the effective “ROI” will decrease.
What do I mean? Simply less people who use FOSS will contribute. As a result, in certain ways, having a FOSS project will become MORE expensive. Expensive in the number of people using bandwidth to download the latest versions, expensive in core development teams working with larger numbers of users (managing bug tracking systems, email, newsgroups, etc..) and perhaps even development teams debanding due to relentless, ungreatful users who nag and otherwise act uncivil toward these individuals who are releasing their work as FOSS.
Whats the solution? I suppose it, like many things, comes down to education. Educating users about FOSS is critical. It IS important to understand why FOSS exists, why it is very useful, why it is better than commercial software, ways it might not be better than commercial software and ultimately why donatations and involvement is important.