Linux Advocacy: Lessons Learned in 2013

by Dietrich Schmitz

It's been nearly a year now since I created Linux Advocates.  I am reflecting on what has happened during the past year and appraising what changes I need to make that might make Linux Advocates more effective in terms of its advocacy.

As the website domain name implies, it is all about advocating for the use of Linux.  That is obvious but subtle at the same time.

In doing advocacy, I have discovered some things which have resulted in my making changes that seemingly run counter to the definition of advocacy.

Censorship

Over many years, I have learned from my personal experiences in website forums that readers come in varieties and types.  Taking feedback over the past year on Linux Advocates, I have found it necessary to apply rigid censorship so as to keep trolling from ruling the comments section.

It became quickly evident to me and LA co-founder +Katherine Noyes  that regardless of the cause, there is a sub-population who have no real interest in rational discourse on the topics at hand, who are merely intent to 'troll'.  It is unfortunate, but, part of the landscape and without censorship, I have seen comment feedback quickly regress.  So as to be effective in reigning in the trolls, full moderation has been on for over 6 months now.  Largely, the trolls have gone elsewhere.

But it leaves me with a strong impression of the types of people out there who make 'hating' and 'trolling' a game of sorts, who feel by virtue of their anonymity that they are not accountable for their bad behavior.  That is perhaps the most troubling aspect of today's Internet, along with privacy rights.

It represents a disconnect between how a 'normal' person would conduct his/herself in a public place and doing the same in a forum context.  Psychologists will be studying this type of behavior for years.

So be it.  Trolling is rampant, only I have filtered it out with censorship.  I don't like having to do it, but it is absolutely necessary.

Tribalism

In the real world, when you come to work to earn a paycheck, inevitably, there will be some 'friction' during the day due to human interaction.  Some conduct themselves in keeping with good business practices.  Others depart from that and their professional comportment and/or diminished social skills impact on others who come into contact with them.

Hopefully, you quickly identify who those people are and find ways to avoid unpleasant exchanges and get through your day.  Some days, it becomes impossible.

Personalities get in the way even more so on the Internet.  When it comes to professional conduct in the upstream software developer team setting, I have seen the worst kind of behavior one can imagine.  Even the grand poobah Linus Torvalds has been charged with exhibiting unprofessional, vulgar behavior.  

All it takes is one person in a position of 'authority' who controls a project to cause alienation to ripple downstream.  The side-effect of such behavior in the Open Source community includes arrogance and those directly affected by the individual must quickly choose sides -- either adversarial or side with the 'bad behavior' and cliques quickly form.  In psychology, the tendency to behave in cliques smooths out difficulties for the project unit but leaves the organization in a position of exhibiting tribalism towards outside developers who wish to advance a special software feature or change. 

In fact, so as to preserve the purity and sanctity of this advocacy, I have had to discharge more than one contributor by virtue of their inappropriate behavior.  It's not something I will ever tolerate from anyone.

The reputation of Linux Open Source has been given a 'black eye' by tribalism.  It is very divisive, damaging and counter-productive to advancing the cause of Linux advocacy.   I don't know what the future holds but while many upstream projects do not suffer from this malady, all it takes is one 'bad apple' to magnify and spread like a contagion.  I hope things improve.

Living

Living.  What do I mean by that?  Everybody wants the same thing: Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  Living comes at a cost.  Many currently around the globe are in the throws of economic turmoil.  And when you can't pay the rent, you are even more less likely to have any inclination to write code for an Open Source project.

That factors in for many who continue to dedicate themselves to Linux despite their life circumstances.  They are to be commended for their resolve and fidelity.  Others, simply by attrition, have either given up (Cloverleaf and SolusOS) or retired (Fuduntu).  That is the harsh reality.

I have predicted that given the serious economic turmoil, there will be a major consolidation of Linux Distributions resulting in a rapid collapse.  The result will be in the next five years only the strong will survive and that comes down to just a handful of base Distros.  And that has been a major factor influencing my decision to use Fedora -- they will be around.

Conclusion

I sincerely hope to continue providing strong advocacy for all things Linux with original and meaningful content.  I want to thank the readership for visiting my website and hope they will continue to do so throughout the 2014 year.  The average montly pageviews for 2013 was over 60,000.  

A very special thank you goes out to the Linux Advocate Contributors for their continued ongoing support.

Happy New Year Everyone,

Dietrich Schmitz
Linux Advocates, Site Owner

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The Rise of 'Open Source': It's Not Just About Software

by Katherine Noyes 

Here in the tech world, it's become increasingly common to see market research and reports testifying to the growing ubiquity of open source software, such as the one just last week from Black Duck Software and North Bridge Venture Partners indicating that open source is “eating” the software world, as the authors put it.

What's typically not recognized, however, is that this trend toward openness in software is just one piece of a much bigger picture. In fact, openness is a trend that's taking hold throughout numerous aspects of the modern world, to the benefit of everyday people like you and me.

“Open,” in other words, appears to be the future – whether we're talking software or beyond.

Ready for a quick tour? Most Linux advocates are already well aware of the benefits of open source when it comes to software, but here are two other kinds of openness I've come to appreciate from the writing I do outside the tech world.

1. The Crowdsourcing Trend

It used to be that companies were expected to create products, and consumers were expected to consume them. Legislators were expected to create laws, and citizens were expected to obey them. Investors were expected to provide funds, and companies were expected to generate a return on that investment.

Today, that's all been turned on its head. Companies routinely recruit consumers for help designing products; not only that, but they use those ideas and even reward those who came up with them. Legislators like former California Senator Joe Simitian invite – and act upon -- constituents' input for conceiving new laws.

The explosive success of sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, meanwhile, is evidence of the key role consumers have begun to play in funding the products and services that matter to them in virtually every niche and industry.

The bottom line, as I've said before, is that no organization is an “island” anymore. Consumers and citizens increasingly expect – and are afforded – openness and an active role.

2. 'Transparency Tyranny'

At the same time, no government or corporation can continue to get away with operating in secret, or behind closed doors. The global economic crisis of recent years has made it all too clear to citizens how much power has been abused at their expense, and the ongoing activities of watchdog organizations like Wikileaks have continued to drive that message home.

Except in very rare cases – Apple, in fact, might well be one of them, at least among a niche set of consumers -- citizens and customers are no longer willing to trust companies or governments to do what's best for them. The result is a phenomenon that Trendwatching.com (sister site to Springwise, one of the publications I write for) has named “Transparency Tyranny” for the fact that corporate and governmental organizations no longer have anywhere to hide; citizens and consumers are always watching and publishing their assessments for all the world to see.

The world is opening up, in other words. The horses are out of the barn, and they're not going back again. The interesting part now is to watch how the organizations that affect our lives choose to respond.

-- Katherine

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Advocacy by Highlighting Flaws Found in the Opposition

By Guest Writer Dr. Roy Schesterwitz

Positive advocacy is rarely controversial because it speaks positively of some and negatively of none. But when striving to inform others of better alternatives, it becomes imperative to get their attention without insulting them.

In advocating Linux and other free software projects, it ought not be a taboo to criticise the character of businesses (in the metaphorical sense). People are attached to friends and family, but less so to corporations, unless these corporations pay them a wage. People value people, not brands or code, unless those are their own brands or code, except perhaps in cases of pseudo-kinship and affiliation one conceptualises (marketing professionals know how to develop attachment to brands, including Linux).

There is sometimes a sense of hostility and alienation towards Linux advocates who dare to speak about bad deeds of companies that are acting aggressively, including litigation against Linux. These advocates receive misplaced flak for doing what many others are apprehensive about due to business relationships -- current or prospective -- or perhaps the expectation that seeming 'business-hostile' is counter-productive to one's career.

One must recognise the fact that advocacy which criticises the 'opposition' is not partisanship as long as it is true and consistent. 

We must try to objectively inform people, to challenge out-of-line corporations, to bring a human and humane side to corporations that are otherwise apathetic to human factors, largely unaccountable, and insensitive to the needs of a community if shareholders take charge and those shareholders are not users and/or developers. What distinguishes Linux and other such projects is that stakeholders are mostly users and/or developers, who are sometimes also shareholders. They keep the projects relatively loyal to users and/or developers. That is why so many people love Linux and other free software projects. There is an actual justifiable sense of belonging, control, participation, and -- dare one say -- attachment.

Nobody is immune to criticism and those who are moral have no reason to fear criticism, or even absolute transparency. Rather than criticise critics, we need to listen to their arguments and assess these based on their merits, or lack thereof.

The notion that criticism is by default a "negative" thing is exactly the notion which vicious players want us to embrace. A lot of the time the loudest critics are those whose interests are exactly the same as everyone's, except for a small conspiracy of people at positions of power in corporations which use software to control the users -- a reversal of roles for sure.

The bottom line is, the enemy is not critics within the community; it is often those whom they criticise. It's just not always simple to see it. PR budgets make a tremendous difference.

-- Dr. Roy Schesterwitz

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