Our community is vast, but it is impossible to gauge how broad it is. We cannot tell who uses our software because we don’t force them to inform us, and because F/LOSS is freely and organically dispersible.
When I first started using Ubuntu back in the days of Hoary, I was dependant on the various forums. Having to sift through the impropriety on the various Linux-oriented boards was exhausting. Having my identity be refuted was exhausting. I was in the unique position where a teacher I had at the time was introducing the (web development) class I was in to Unix/Linux. It is probably the desire to do better at my course than the guys who were trying to sabotage me, that prevented me from leaving the community at that point. I was not working full time and did not have family obligations that needed prioritising. This was all before I was a contributing part of the community.
What a lot of people seems to be missing is that from the moment users need to ask their first question — they are part of the community. I did not “start using” Ubuntu before I joined the community, it happened in parallel.
People do not install Linux for the first time, then immediately begin submitting patches. They do not install Linux for the first time, then immediately begin filing bugs. They do not install for the first time and immediately begin answering support questions or writing howtos.
People install Linux for the first time, then they poke around. They ask for advice. They read howtos. They read other people’s questions and what those people got in response. They may not have contributed code, but by $deity, they are part of the community.
The moment you help someone install Ubuntu, that person is part of the community. The moment they start reading about it, and investigating it, they are part of the community.
Some people never go beyond being a user of Ubuntu, but they are just as much a part of the community as our developers.
I was part of the community before I was a contributor, and most people within the community do follow that path.
What people need to realise is that if at any of those points along the road, they receive or witness impropriety that exceeds their tolerance threshold, then they will feel pushed away. If they don’t know that there are people who are able to help them past these deterrents, they will feel they have no place to turn to turn. If they feel this way, then we’ve lost them.
You’re absolutely correct on all of the various parts of this article. It’s informative, concise, and overall well-written.
Ron
If someone uses it but *doesn’t* ask questions, read, or interact with other members of the community…are they still part of the community? How can you be part of a community you don’t even talk to?
To be honest? I suspect we’d be hard-pressed to find someone who discovered and installed and learned Ubuntu entirely on their own but who at the same time doesn’t read news articles or the like or even enable popcon. How such an individual would fit in, I genuinely have no clue.
I’m agree with you that everyone can be part of the community without writing a sinlge line of code / wiki etc and I also agree with Mackenzie that being part of a community does entail *some* kind of interaction (even if just asking a question).
The one thing that seemed a bit unclear was what you meant by “impropriety”. From previous conversations I’m guessing we’re talking various forms of biggotry including (not exclusively) sexism. Just naming what you’re talking about would make things much clearer though.
Anyway, another insightful and interesting post, as per usual. Thanks Melissa!
The impropriety is not really limited to bigotry, and bigotry is not exclusive to impropriety. Being outright creepy isn’t really bigotry. Abhorring sexism, racism, homophobia, ableism, fat-hatred and so forth is technically bigotry.
I’m not really sure that all distasteful behaviour fits a single mould.
I’ve been a user of linux since the late 1990s, and I wasn’t a ‘part of the community’ until much, much later, unless you count buying books at a bricks and mortar bookstore as being a member of the community.
I’ve not encountered much bigotry though? I’ve encountered impatience with people who are clearly lazy and want their every problem solved for them, but on the whole, if you’re polite and you are willing to try to figure things out for yourself and ask intelligent questions along the way then most open source communities seem welcoming and more than willing to help you along the way. Age / race / gender / appearance doesn’t seem to matter to the majority of the community.
Maybe I’ve just been lucky.
My commentary is more about the current ecosystem than that of the 90s, but I do still suspect you found out about Linux from someone, or was spotting a book in the bookshop your first ever contact? Even if so, you were reading the content produced by the community and acting on it.
As for seeing the impropriety, who knows why you’ve not seen much of it. Maybe it depends on what you think “much” is. I am not going to make assumptions and try to guess.
And yes, most of the community doesn’t think age / race / gender/ appearance matter, we’re all well aware of that. However the same people who don’t think it matters, rarely if ever step in to deter or at least counter the bad behaviour when it does occur for the same reason.
Well, I’m thinking of people like the ones in my family. I’m the only Ubuntu user they know.* It happens to be installed on the computer, so they use it. They have no questions, so they ask no questions. They don’t read about it. They don’t really care. They’re as much a part of a community as they were when they used Windows…ie, not at all. It’s *just* software, after all.
I think you need to actively try to get involved to be part of the community. I mean, community implies that there’s some sort of *interaction* happeningl.
* and we talk about things like “what’s for dinner?” and “what do you want for your birthday?” not “omg did you see the new theme???”
I see maco’s point, but maco — you are being involved FOR your family. You did the installs, and do the upkeep. So they can just use the software, and have the privilege of not thinking about it.
I’ve been involved in other communities (church, political groups, online communities) where the impropriety did reach the point where I could no longer stay, no longer felt myself part of the group. It doesn’t have to be racism, sexism, etc. — it can be watching helplessly as an innocent is set up to fail, or a close friendship is destroyed by betrayal. It can be personal, and doesn’t have to be political at all. But still — there was trust, and faith that the group was functioning for the good of all participants, and then that trust was broken, lost.
So if we want a healthy community, we need to pay attention to those who are just beginning to take notice, just beginning to show up in the forums, mail lists or IRC, and make sure our behavior is impeccable in those public spaces. It will make our community more attractive, we’ll have more participation, and the load is lightened for all, and our products will be better.
Thank you for writing your essay, Melissa. I think your message is very valuable.