The cost of free is emotional attachment

[Paul Keith]

Source: http://www.linuxjour...ers-vs-linux-culture

Using a forum board or IRC channel is a lot like trying to solve your problems by walking down a dorm room hallway. Room by room you poke your head in, say hi to everybody, and ask around quickly to see if anyone has an idea. The responses can vary depending on which door you knock on.

A lot has changed since I first started knocking on doors to solve my problems. First and foremost, there are a LOT more doors. Second, there are a lot more people to ask as open source finds itself becoming more and more mainstream. What doesn't seem to have changed much are the responses.

There will always be the self righteous neighbors. I knocked on one of these doors the other day. The first response was "why don't you just come out and tell us what you broke...". There's the newbie rooms full
of happy people that are just as lost as you are and have huddled together in the kiddie pool. There's the oh-so-elite rooms (you know who you are Gentoo users!) who only have one response for any question "RTFM". Remind me to further rant on these types some other time.

Occasionally (and less and less by accident of late) you get lucky and find a room full of sympathetic techies. These rooms are filled with people who can explain your problems simply enough to enable you to actually fix something.

All of this leads to my point: those of us who are passionate about open source projects are by nature, somewhat evangelistic.

Comment:

Really I am just one guy with one PC and really don't care in general about the evil empires... profit, since I need to profit from something to live myself or any of that stuff. I bought a new PC with touchscreen, just for fun.. with windows7 on it. I am fine. Works fine also. It's not light years different than anything.. it's really good though. I don't need a flavor of people in a community. I am not in any kind of community of users in using windows. I do look for news about Linux... but I hit articles like this and it reminds me how much Linux is not about an OS, it's about membership and philosophy. And it's hard to escape it because there is no profit motivation to propagate it. So the motivation is to endear oneself to it and all users of it for some greater good. I just can't get into it that way. I do understand it.. but don't really want to mess with the issues like "real" Linux people do. The cost of free is emotional attachment. I don't have it. Never will. If Linux is not better in most ways... and if I can afford a decent PC and not an old piece of crap.... I really just think I will use windows and not mess with this group mostly. It's just so self involved.. even just users who don't even write any code at all for it... who just love that turning on a PC and didn't pay one dime to people who make a living in the software industry, seems a bit weird. Personally I feel a little relieved that I paid for my OS and have it and can bitch and moan and otherwise forget about where it came from.

If I had to be part of a community of all the tools I use in life I would go nuts. Thanks so much for the free toaster... you guys are the best... but it is not toasting on one side... can ya please help a brother out? Thanks for the help... it kinda works I think... those people who paid for that other toaster are sure sheeple aren't they? Talk later... off to my free as in whatever, fridge forum ... I have frozen milk...

[MilesAhead]

Hobbyist v. Consumer is how I see it.  Ham Radio guys I think 98% of the conversation is about the rig, how they built it, what problems etc..  If you're not part of the soldering iron crowd, you prolly won't set one up in the first place or do what's required to get a ham license.

PC has a hobbyist heritage.  That's the exchange info, help each other out bit.  It's become a commodity. So Joe Sixpack just wants to download or watch sports online.  He doesn't really give a crap what a GigaByte is.

[hamradio]

...

Ham Radio guys I think 98% of the conversation is about the rig, how they built it, what problems etc..  If you're not part of the soldering iron crowd, you prolly won't set one up in the first place or do what's required to get a ham license.

...

-MilesAhead (June 10, 2010, 12:01 PM)

Amateur (ham) radio has clubs out there that provide valuable services including but not limiting to helping with emergency communications in the time of need.

I.E. Providing communications from emergency shelters, helping out with community events, trained spotters for weather, and other emergencies where normal communcation might fail.

See Also: ARRL Public Service; ARES; RACES; and more...

One Real Life example this year...Windstream Suffers Significant 911 Outage

We even have chances to talk with the international space station through amateur radio when they fly over for a brief few moments.

In closing...

Its not all about the equipment.

[MilesAhead]

The sense of humor must have gotten lost with the soldering iron.
Sheesh!

edit: btw my older brother did use a soldering iron, loved short wave that he listened to every night since he was a kid, did talk mostly about the rig and yadda yadda.  But there's likely a hobbyist/consumer divide here now also.  A lot of people just buy the gear instead of putting it together for the fun of it.  Everything gets commoditized.