Re: The Community

On Wednesday 20 June 2007, Benjamin Long wrote:
> I've been hashing over some thoughts for a few days. The question has come
> to mind: "Who is part of the Opie Community". I've put Google to the task
> of finding out how other Open Source projects define "Community" and found
> differing opinions. Mostly, it seems to revolve around contributions to the
> project. However, many types of contributions are important to a project,
> not just raw lines of code. The best working definition I've found, so far,
> is from Ubuntu:
>
> "Membership in the Ubuntu community recognises participants for a variety
> of contributions, from code to artwork, advocacy, translations and
> organisational skills. If you are active in the Forums, or submitting icons
> or sounds or artwork, then you are eligible for Membership, which gives you
> a say in the governance of the project."[1]
>
> More details about what it takes to become an Ubuntu Member here:
> http://www.ubuntu.com/community/processes/newmember
>
> I, personally, really like where the Ubuntu project has gone with this. But
> people don't spontaneously become members. First, they have to _want_ to be
> members. So... I pose this question to everyone subscribed to this mailing
> list, and anyone else who reads this email:
>
> Who wants to be a member of the Opie Community?
>
> Please respond to the list, and don't be shy. We need as many people as we
> can get.

I have just caught up with the mailing list, because I have been abroad for a
while. I was shocked, to be honest. I considder myself part of the OPIE
community, in a way. I have never worked on OPIE directly, but I have for a
long time been the maintainer (and I am the original author) of a fairly big
piece of software for it: cumulus[1]. I know for a fact that there are OPIE
users using OPIE just to be able to use this. I don' t know if that qualifies
me as a member of the community, but at least I'd say I have stake in it.

Regards,

Andre Somers
[1] http://cumulus.kflog.org

-- 
Thermiek is een keuze!