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Giving Back
In a community that champions the freedom of software and super-low-cost solutions, money is scarce. Without a big PR and marketing budget to back them up, travel arrangements and sleeping accommodations are paid for by the same people who donate countless hours making Linux a better environment to work and play in. The guy that makes $7 an hour at his tech support job and codes Linux device drivers at night is most likely paying his own way.
The LinuxWorld Conference and Expo in New York City was the largest Linux trade show to date. With a massive show floor and big-name exhibitors, you could almost hear the money change hands. On the other side of the cash fence, the .org pavilion was filled with bleary-eyed developers fighting with machines, trying to get their latest nifty gadget to compile. Some of the exhibitors in the .org pavilion had a bowl out to accept donations from the public, who they've invited in to their community. The fact that the .org pavilion gave these people a chance to shine is a big step in the right direction on behalf of the sponsors. The "if you build it, they will come" mentality is graciously accepted on behalf of the community, and they show up in droves to get great exposure for their work.
Donation cash seems to flow in the direction of the news of the day. While the DVD Copy Control Association barrels toward resolution on the distribution of the DeCSS code, conference folk emptied their pockets to help out the defendants in the case. At the Andover party at the China Club, Tucows Linux began accepting donations on behalf of the defendants to toss into the "DeCSS Legal Defense Fund." They collected $891 at that party, and Tucows matched them, bringing the total for the defense fund to $1,782. While they told everyone at the party that Tucows would double the cash, they had yet to clear it with Tucows President Elliot Noss. When they sheepishly approached Elliot after the party, Elliot was ecstatic and agreed to match the amount immediately. "This isn't about pirating movies but about engineering processes," he said, "Anything that stifles the people's ability to create is bad for consumers." Tucows cash aside, Linux kernel maintainer Alan Cox donated $10,000, exactly the amount of an award given to him by Slashdot earlier in the evening.
The Free Software Foundation is a well-known supporter of the Linux community. If it weren't for tools written for the GNU project or software distributed under the GPL license, Linux as we know it today would simply not exist. While the amount of money that was donated to the FSF last year is still in the hands of the auditors to be tallied and totalled, the FSF didn't add a lot to their coffers this last time out. The exact amount was not available at the time of this writing, but Leslie Proctor from the FSF assures me that it "wasn't enough to discuss."
On the other hand, Software in the Public Interest, Inc. received a decent amount at the show. SPI is a "blanket" non-profit organization devoted to helping out Open Source software projects, like Debian, GNOME and Berlin. Software in the Public Interest pulled down about $800 for the week, maybe a little bit more. I got the chance to talk to Darren Benham, treasurer for SPI, and I asked him how the donation at this show compared to other show they've attended. "I don't think there is a comparison. We only tracked donations at the last three Linux World Expos, and and they've been all over the map. The first one, we may have gotten two or 300 dollars total. At the last San Jose LinuxWorld Expo, we got closer to three thousand. The only way we collect money is by having something to offer. We had T-shirts at the LinuxWorld Expo in San Jose, we had some CD's at this one, and that's the only way we get any money at all from the expos." While being able to make money from donations is a great thing to continue the work, exposure is key. "We don't actually go to the expos to try and make money. We're there to get Debian out into the eyes of the public."
With growing interest in commericalizing Linux, there seems to be some companies that really don't care about the differences between GPL software and public domain. For example, Caldera Systems will distribute OpenLinux CDs without the source code to the GPL packages or even a *written offer* for the source code. For public domain and BSD licensed software this is fine but the GPL requires at the very least a written offer for the source code. I have asked Caldera Systems about this issue several times, even to the point that I have asked them to stop the unlicensed method of redistribution of works that has code that I hold copyright on. To date, Caldera Systems has ignored me and continues to pirate mine and other people's GPL works as they perform redistribution without remaining compliant with the terms of redistribution of a GPL work. It is my belief that as more companies get involved in commericalizing Linux that there will be more involvement that follow the Caldera System GPL violation model. If even the "good guys" are willing to disregard the GPL, then isn't the GPL beginning to loose all meaning?
Yes, it's in Baltimore. It's called Geeks Into the Streets [GITS], URL http://linux.umbc.edu/gits/, and the person who heads it is chief freshmeat appindex maintainer Jeff Covey (jeff.covey@freshmeat.net). The essence of this program is volunteer time, not money. Any half-decent LUG ought to be able to come up with enough surplus equipment to outfit a little computer lab and training facility like the one GITS runs.
My personal "pet" project at the moment is fighting UCITA in the Maryland legislature. I usually have at least one side "freebie" project going, as do most of the local Linux people I know. This is what makes us a community, remember?
It's good to give back a little of yourself. I'm no millionaire, but writing about Linux and open source makes me a decent living and has given me a certain amount of fame. I don't feel I've gotten to wherever it is I am today because I am brilliant, but because I have been incredibly lucky and have been helped by many mentors along the way.
So it is my duty to give others a leg up and help them, just as others have helped me.
But the real kudos go to Jeff Covey, Steve Killen and Dan Pearson (all of whom work for Andover) and the many other volunteers and donors who work on GITS - and have made the Linux computers in their home-built lab so popular that the kids argue over who gets to use which terminal for how long.
- Robin 'roblimo' Miller
When you buy a commercial software license for yourself, all you get is a software license. When you give money to a free software project, you not only get the software, but so does everybody else.
I got into Linux because I didn't have the money to keep buying new Windows software and new hardware to run every so-called upgrade. There are a lot of people out there who can't afford new computers and commercial software. The current economic bubble isn't doing much for most of my neighbors except running up rents and other costs a lot faster than their incomes are going up.
It's easy to spout "it's their own fault they're poor" BS when you're young and/or talented and/or lucky, but not as easy when you get a few years on you or have had some rough times of your own.
When Bruce Perens makes "Robin the Cabbie" jokes, they're not really jokes. I drove a cab for years. Almost all my cab (and later, limo) money went to child support and I lived on my free-lance writing income, which didn't start to become substantial until about five years ago. (And Bruce knows this. He and I knock each other as friends, not as enemies.)
I've gone through some very hard times, and I haven't forgotten them. In a lot of ways my life didn't start getting *really good* until I started using Linux.
This is the reason I am such a rabid Linux and free software evangelist.
Sure, I'm riding on the current Linux and open source corporate gravy train in my own small way right now, but if that ever ends I will still be an ardent Linux booster. Meanwhile, if I can help out a little here and there, I can and do. I get my money's (and time's) worth back in many ways, not all of which show up on a balance sheet.
- Robin 'roblimo' Miller
This is Jon's calling: his background, style, and motivation perfectly suit him for helping to kick off _non_ geek rejections of things like that. All he needs is a forum, and though Slashdot isn't an ideal forum for him, I am sure he can reach the proper forums as needed.
I agree that open source development will definately surive without corporate sponsorship but money can help the whole cause if applied correctly such as providing air travel and hotel so open source developers can attend conferences, providing hardware and bandwidth, and providing attorneys to defend open source licenses or defend against ridiculous patent lawsuits. All of the so-called Linux companies have a vested interest in making sure open source developers are getting all the support they need to keep coding.
I'm glad to hear it and you made some excellent points. The realty is a lot open source programmers are not dirt poor, in fact many have high-paying jobs, and many are paid to develop open source projects which already have plenty of big money sponsors backing them already. Some OSS developers need the money and some don't, and I'm glad to see those who don't redistributing it to anyone who really needs it. Some whiners may shout that's wasting capital, but businesses give to charity all the time, sometimes because it's a tax write-off and other times just out of genuine spirit of philanthropy.
A cool approach might be to build something like a WikiWikiClone that can collect up improvements made online, and turn them into linear presentations. I suggest this because the Wiki mechanism is very much oriented towards the approach of improve a page here or there a bit.
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
How about someone starts a fund which allows eligable Linux and Open-Source hackers to travel to various shows and conferences, with the person only having to pay little or no money out of pocket? This would increase the turnout of various conferences.
This could also be extended as a general legal fund in case something like the UCITA gets passed and their software doesn't work, or if a software program causes a company to get pissed enough to sue.
I don't know if something like this already exists, but if it doesn't I'd sure like to see this pop up.
US businesses that currently accept chip and PIN/signature
"He then was able to activate a huge community to join him in his quest to fight corporations."
I thought you just told me his goal was the creation of Free Software. Now you tell me his goal is to fight corporations. And you wonder why people accuse the FSF of being anti-commercial!
"If he had just patented all of his code in the beggining he would rule the world."
Was that Richard's goal? To rule the world? I'm glad you got that out in the open instead of hiding behind the rhetoric of "free" and "voluntary".
A Government Is a Body of People, Usually Notably Ungoverned
"EM>I just don't see where you are getting this from. I serously doubt RMS wants power and control."
You just finished telling us that RMS is collecting a community to fight the corporations with! You just got through telling us that RMS could have ruled the world if he had used patents! Make up your mind. If you argue out of both sides of your mouth you end up spouting gibberish.
A Government Is a Body of People, Usually Notably Ungoverned
"You are not allowed to profit from other peoples hard work if they don't want you to. That's what the GPL is all about."
Boy, now I'm confused as all get out. Are you saying I can't profit off of GPL software? What the hell is Cygnus then? What about Redhat, SuSE, Corel? Hell, even Cheapbytes deserves a lawsuit I guess.
A Government Is a Body of People, Usually Notably Ungoverned
Just a guess - you don't like rich people. Now ask yourself why anyone would tip a paperboy who hates them? Gee, I'll bet you that missing ten dollar tip right now that you deliberately gave them lousy service and it got worse everytime they didn't tip you.
A Government Is a Body of People, Usually Notably Ungoverned
And not one of those people asked for money before hand. As I understand it, they all shared the software with me. Now, I'm not too keen on folks who share something with me, then get their noses bent out of shape because I didn't pay for it afterwards.
The problem with the Free Software movement (as opposed to the Open Source movement) is that it wants to replace proprietary software development with guiltware. Geez, walking through the dot.org pavillion is like trying to watch PBS during pledge week.
If you don't want people freeloading, don't give out freebies.
A Government Is a Body of People, Usually Notably Ungoverned
But the free in "Free Software" is not liberty! Hell, it's not even free speech! This is why people aren't contributing to the FSF - they don't want to encourage even more abuse to the English language.
If Free Software == Free Speech, then why the hell isn't it in the Constitution?
Quick civics lesson for the forgetful. Free Speech means you have the freedom and right to make, utter, create, express speech. You ALREADY have the right to create software. You already have the right to release and distribute it under any bleeding license you want. Free Speech isn't in the constitution in order to grant you some heretofore undiscovered priviledge. NO! It there to guarantee you a right that you ALREADY have!
If you deny people to right to create closed source software, you are eliminating Free Speech. Yet this is exactly what the FSF wants to do, ban proprietary software. If RMS had settled for creating Open Source replacements for proprietary software, he would have been my hero. But he didn't stop there. He decided that he had a cause, and that cause, like all others, was to force the world into his particular vision of it. When he uses terms like subjugation, domination and slavery with regard to closed source software, he is making a complete mockery of everything he says he stands for.
``Free software'' is a matter of liberty, not price.
I am unware of any piece of Free Software that I cannot obtain for zero cash. Sure, the FSF may sell the Deluxe GNU (tm) for $5000, but I can still download every bit of it for zero dollars and zero cents.
A Government Is a Body of People, Usually Notably Ungoverned
FSF can not under any circumstances prevent you from licensing software entirely written by you any way you want.
That's true of course, so long as the software written solely by me never comes in contact with GPLd software. The FSF certainly can, and has, prevented the distribution of programs whose only crime was to dynamically link to GPL code.
A Government Is a Body of People, Usually Notably Ungoverned
Where and when did RMS say he wanted to "ban proprietary software"?
(www.gnu.org/fsf/fsf.html) To quote: "The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is dedicated to eliminating restrictions on copying, redistribution, understanding, and modification of computer programs."
You may be right that RMS never comes out and promotes an elimination of proprietary software through the means of force and legislation. However, when he equates Free Software to Free Speech it seems obvious to me that he desires equal legal protection for it. If they're both the same, then legal injunctions against denying someone the right to speak are equivalent to legal injunctions against denying someone the right to modify or redistribute software.
A Government Is a Body of People, Usually Notably Ungoverned
There are thousands of political organizations with very unpopular stances on touchy issues that are rolling in donor cash.
The Free Software Foundation doesn't get donations from the computer industry in the same way that the Sierra Club doesn't get donations from the lumber industry. Even though the Sierra Club honestly feels that its policies will ultimately help the lumber industry in the long run, they aren't not so naive as to waste their time soliciting donation from sawmills and lumberjacks. If the FSF desires more funding, it needs to look outside the software creation industry. As long as they state in the GNU Manifesto that programmers should not make more money than salesclerks, then they should not be surprised when the majority of programmers do not contribute.
A Government Is a Body of People, Usually Notably Ungoverned
Judging the worth of people based on their net worth is wrong. It is JUST AS WRONG to base the worth of people on their lack of net worth.
I indeed have ample amounts of charity and compassion. But I have no patience with those who condemn others based solely on their bank accounts.
A Government Is a Body of People, Usually Notably Ungoverned
Oh yes, I did voluntarily redistribute some of my paltry wages around LWCE. And I tipped some developers I met. And everyone I knew whose software I was using got at least a hearty thank you. That included Linus and Richard.
"Here's a flyer. Please put some money in the can so we can continue providing you with more free software."
I've been involved with a lot of non-profit organizations. Putting out a can to collect donations in never brought in much money. You don't host a free dance and then sell tickets for a ten dollar donations. However, I found out a lot of things that worked. People like to buy so sell stuff.
Here's a better idea... Burn a few hundred CDs with the latest Gnome on them and sell them for $5 apiece. "Only available here! Tomorrow's Gnome today! Only five bucks. Every Gnome application known included." And then take that now unused ceramic gnome mug and auction it off to the highest bidder.
A Government Is a Body of People, Usually Notably Ungoverned
Yeah, I agree. As long as the FSF continues to spout rhetoric about how ALL SOFTWARE SHOULD BE FREE and ANYONE WHO WANTS YOU TO PAY FOR SOFTWARE IS TRYIGN TO TAKE AWAY YOUR GOD GIVEN RIGHTS, I'm going to conspicuously never donate anythign their way.
If you want to write some free software, that's cool. If you want to have a license that requires all your work to stay free, that's clever. But if you bitch and piss and moan for decade after decade about how evil people that write and sell and make a profit off commercial, pay software, don't be surprised when those people don't turn their hard earned money over to you.
You'd think that RMS would realize by this point that the people that he's tryign to get to support his cause are the people who are basin gtheir lives on doing what he's crusading about. That contradiction alone is enough to make me doubt his sanity.
linuxers should organize carpools for these things. that way, people who live all the way out in the forest (read: canada) can attend these things. Thats the spirit the linux community needs! not only that, the cars (because of the nerds) would have mp3 steros! yes!
Hey, an excellent idea. I hope your idea gets moderated up for more eyes to see.
numb
Wrote the gEdit help file. This thread has motivated me to target yet another app to write a help file for.
Thank you everyone who purchased a shirt or stopped by the copyleft booth.
Dom
copyleft.net
That doesn't make sense. There are thousands of political organizations with very unpopular stances on touchy issues that are rolling in donor cash. Half the problem in the FSF is absolutely no non-profit fundraising sense and an unwillingness to relinquish an unpopular and alarmist (to the layman) popular image.
The fact of the matter is, they have some of the best coding talent in the world working under perhaps the most brilliant development system in the world. They just need a PR and marketing arm that flexes a little more muscle & buffs that GNU image to a healthy golden shine.
Is it fist pumping Che-type freedom that you're fighting for, or the right to produce software in a peer-reviewed development cycle? If it's the latter, then stand for the cycle itself, rather than the right to employ it -- at least in public. Then you take your soft donor money and talk to some senators on a golf course...
Amen to that. not only has Linux and OSS greatly helped out me and my clients, but it's great to know that I can have a copy at home of what I'm installing for a client. Makes for better error duplication | troubleshooting | etc...
It's just not feasible to do with a similar configuration in NT, as I would have to purchase a copy of it solely for home use.
In addition, it's the ONLY way to steer a customer looking into teching up their business/office. Not only can you give them guaranteed stability, but at a fraction of the cost.
At http://www.fsf.org/gnu/manifesto.html, where Stallman says:
Which is what Stallman advocates: banning commercial software and commercial software companies. The stated purpose of the GPL is to destroy all programming jobs which pay better than what is earned by a starving graduate student.
At http://www.fsf.org/phi losophy/free-software-for-freedom.html,Richard says:
And at http://www.fsf.or g/philosophy/categories.html#ProprietarySoftware, Stallman writes:
These, and other documents, reaffirm Stallman's goal of driving all commercial software (which he calls "proprietary" software even though that word has a different meaning in normal usage) out of the marketplace.
--Brett Glass
Actually, this is exatly what the GPL does. By using existing legislation (the copyright laws), and force (the force of courts and police, which enforce them), the GPL seeks to sabotage commercial software vendors. This process is explicitly explained on the FSF's Web pages.
--Brett Glass
One thing i have always admired about the open source movement is it's anarchic, socialistic aspects and as it becomes more focused on the almighty dollar, I suspect that all the things that make it great will no longer exist.
Heheheh hey did anyone notice who was depositing the money in the .org bowls. I assure you it wasnt .com linux distros. There is one thing that I have noticed in life, from being a paperboy when I was a kid. Rich people with fancy houses, nice mercedes cars etc... wouldnt tip me crap. But when I went to the middle class family struggling to make and bringing up 4 kids on 12,000 a year, they would give me a $10 dollar tip usually. Now I bet most of the contributions in those bowls where from your average hackers, and joes, and not from the corporate people. It just goes to show how badly money corrupts.
There are a bunch of big corporate houses that never acknowledge their use of GNU software and Linux (or GNU/Linux ) - US defence department contractors and sub-contractors. I work for a fairly large defence department sub-contractor - this outfit has saved piles of money by using GNU tools, esp 'gcc'. More than a year back they built a Video surveillance system (both visible and IR ) based on RH 5.0 - it was stabilised and stripped down to run on 8MB of Flash. The system is rock solid and runs in extremely Mission critical environments. A quick look at the "Thank Gnus" page - http://www.gnu.org/thankgnus/thankgnus.html shows none of these contractors, who make moolah by the millions. I am ashamed to be working for them - anyway I will be moving on soon.
Isn't this two sure bets?
From the front page of http://www.gnu.org/
The Free Software Foundation has been awarded $10,000 as the Most Deserving Open Source Charity in the Andover.net/Slashdot Beanie awards. GNOME was awarded $30,000 as the Most Improved Open Source Project.
Boy, is my face red! Maybe I should some homework before I rant? Nah. That would be very unSlashdotlike of me!
OK, fine. Well in that case, let's give 'em more! Give 'til it hurts!
``Free software'' is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of ``free speech'', not ``free beer.'' ``Free software'' refers to the users' freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software.
FSF says over and over that yes, it's OK to sell software and make money, but it's not cool encouraging people to use your software then slapping hand cuffs on them when they try to disassemble it or customize it for their own needs.
I guess the Free Software Foundation should've been named the Software Liberty Foundation or something like that to avoid confusion over the term "free".
Paranoia isn't an infectious condition, it's a way of life
**> Write decent documentation You wanna talk about revenue? Here's a hint: I just spent over a week on the phone tracking down whether a particular scsi card was compatible with linux. Would I have paid $5/year to subscribe to a service that could provide me with those answers on demand, online, and without a phone call? Oh, HELL YES.
I want to see someone write STEP BY STEP documentation for helping newbies setup ppp. Think of it as a super-advanced wizard - you start with "what distribution?" and then give the options for how you want ppp setup - you have kppp, pppd, modem control panel, etc. Then you step them through (with pictures!) setting this up. Distribute it on a "Linux Documentation CD". You'll strike gold out here in the linux community... we're dying for decent docs. No, the LDP does *not* yet qualify, and I DO NOT consider the HOWTO and guides section to be adequate for someone less than technically minded. I very painfully learned linux... I basically read 10 pages out of "Linux: unleashed" and then it hit the garbage can.. everything else I learned from man pages and howtos. It was PAINFUL.
So there you have it... make next year's expo theme "What's up, docs?"
The main problem with the FSF and why people don't donate as much as you'd like, is because the FSF is a *political* organization.
It's no wonder that corporations are not contributing to a foundation whose goals are a complete rewrite of the software industry. Why should a CEO pay them any heed when he's told to go wait on tables instead of selling software? Why should an industry based on software as a product donate to an organization that demands software not be owned?
Perhaps they're smart enough to realize that donating to the FSF will not advance Free Software, rather it will work towards eliminating all other Free Software in favor of a particular brand of Free Software known as GNU. They have ample justification in worrying that they donations will be used to fight other Free Software projects, like tcl and kde.
A Government Is a Body of People, Usually Notably Ungoverned
Not having any of those particular Caldera CD's you're talking about, I can only go by what is on the Caldera website. Indeed, they have the source code for all GPL packages available, as well as stating so in their distro license. It took me about two minutes to find this.
A Government Is a Body of People, Usually Notably Ungoverned
My strategy has been to donate what I saved in commercial software fees. I *do* recall the days when we paid big bucks for crappy software... and not just because the PHB insisted on a particular vendor.
The problem with this strategy is that the license fees have gotten obscene. My Linux systems aren't comparable to a $200 personal Windows seat, they're equivalent to a $10,000+ Windows NT/2K system with multiple CALs, enterprise web, ftp and database servers, etc. Can I justify writing a donation check larger than the cost of my hardware? Can I justify it when I'm also donating my effort to maintain OSS applications?
On the other hand, employers should definitely be evaluating using a "matching fund" approach to OSS. E.g., if they choose Apache over IIS they should cut a check to Apache, or another OSS project. Even ten cents on the dollar will go a *long* way towards paying lawyer fees, bandwidth and storage, travel expenses, etc.
It's even a sound decision when looking at the bottom line. Donating $1000 to Apache is still far cheaper than the cost of using their own staff to maintain and extend Apache themselves.
For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong. -- H L Mencken
linuxers should organize carpools for these things. that way, people who live all the way out in the forest (read: canada) can attend these things. thats the spirit the linux community needs! not only that, the cars (because of the nerds) would have mp3 steros! yes!
Money doesn't make good software.
I/O Error G-17: Aborting Installation
The conclusion? apparently, some people are less concerned about the amount of money the spend and more concerned about the amount of privacy they spend. The only true advantage to "free" software is that you don't have to give somebody's bastard marketing corp your home address/credit card #/blood type in order to use it.
one must wonder how far this paranoia can carry us - might there be a future in "free" telephones, electrical power, who knows what?
hmmm... *evil grin* open source playboy. Oh, nevermind, just thinking out loud.
Judge Pag, the Learned, Impartial, and Very Relaxed
Sure, the Linux community is great and all, but remember that we're also part of a larger Free Software community. (and we also have commercial interests on Linux as well)
:).
First, I'd say that the Linux Community has always been a supporter of the FSF, but not always the other way around. (spare me your GNU/Linux!) Also, the core BSD people have always been very gracious, unlike some of their (rabid FreeBSD) users (to balance out our rabid Linux-on-x86 users
Where am I going with this? Well, I guess I just don't want to hear more "Linux-is-good Rah-rah-rah" stuff as much as I want to hear "The cooperation in the Free Software and Hacker communities is astounding, and many wonderful projects and environments have come from this, such as Linux."
We should continue to support the development and implementation of new and cool ideas, and not let ourselves get too stuck on one platform or OS. Our portability is our strength.
---
pb Reply or e-mail; don't vaguely moderate.
pb Reply or e-mail; don't vaguely moderate.
But remember, all you multi-millionaire /. readers who don't quite know what to do with all your extra cash...
There's many more charities/.orgs who you can really help, tech-related and non. I remember reading, back in August, about a LUG in Baltimore(I think?) who helped inner-city, disadvantaged kids get online and get the technological know-how that they'll need to get ahead, 15-30 years from now in the workplace. I'd love to hear of more people giving to that sort of group, both time, money, and material goods(read: boxes =)
On the non-tech side, think of everything that's helped you along the way. Did you grow up watching Sesame Street? I'm sure your local public TV station would give you a coffee mug if you threw $25 at them.. Habitat for Humanity prefers time/work donated, but $ probably won't hurt them...
Give till it hurts!--
Neil
You may find this difficult to believe, but we *know* that newbie documentation is a big problem. But we also know that it's impossible for someone with 20 years of Unix experience to write that documentation because we've long since forgotten the process we went through back then.
Even if we do recall what we went through, our assumptions were very different. I used punch cards in college, and the card reader (I was told) transmitted the job to another university 100 miles away for processing. Each run cost "money" and after maybe 25 tries we had to ask the professor for more computer time. In graduate school I got *unlimited* access to a VT-100 which was connected to a BSD-4 system (not *BSD. *Real* BSD that ran on a VAX 11/750 in its own shrine room with picture windows to impress the underclassmen.) I thought I had died and gone to heaven... and I didn't work with a GUI display for almost a decade afterwards.
Do you think I have any chance of writing useful "newbie" documentation? Get real. But *you* know what assumptions a newbie - or at least *some* newbies - bring with them when they try out Linux. You know what questions they will ask -- and what type of information is useful to them.
So *you* should be writing the newbie documentation. You might not think you can do much, but even a list of the 50 things you wish someone told you a few months ago might be enough to make it much easier for the next person.
It's important to note that that's how I write my HOWTOs. I don't write them for Joe Q. Random, I write them to remind me what I did 6 months later. If I think they're general enough, and there's not already a HOWTO out there, I'll toss them up on my web site. If I get enough feedback to show that others find it useful, I'll also send it to the LDP.
For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong. -- H L Mencken
To my great dissappointment I've asked various people here and people at other Linux companies about sharing a nice slice of IPO money with Free Software Foundation, not like we can't afford to write them a nice big check -- in fact I nagged our executives to do so the day we went public. On one hand we (Andover) assumed FSF would get a Beanie (they did not, if I recall) but we at least run lots of free banners for them on Freshmeat, but what bothers me is so many people working in the open source/ linux business do not want to deal with the Free Software Foundation in any way, shape, or form all because of a certain individual who annoys them by the initials of RMS. I've been told again and again by various people that they do not want to give money to FSF simply because they hate Richard Stallman. I've also had people tell me that RMS will refuse corporate money. I don't agree at all. So what if RMS is an extremist, I don't care. I'm going to keep bitching and bitching and stirring and pot here until someone here mails a fat check to Free Software Foundation -- I consider Andover and certain other Linux companies to owe a huge debt to FSF, and I want to see at least Andover's share of that debt is paid off, and I don't give damn if you like Stallman or not. Thankfully the executives here are very open minded and want to help, so I'm sure we'll do more for FSF soon.