Re: Non-political term

[Manoj Srivastava <srivasta@xxxxxxx>]

>>"Atul" == Atul Chitnis <achitnis@xxxxxxxxxxx> writes:

 Atul> Is there a non-politicised term to describe the phenomenon of
 Atul> thousands of people collaborating on a software project,
 Atul> building communities and changing the world? One that started
 Atul> sometime in the early 90's, revived the concept of sharing and
 Atul> rallying around a cause, and is actually being accepted today
 Atul> as a norm (rather than a compulsion)?

 Atul> "GNU" is not applicable because of the way it has been turned into a
 Atul> political battleground, and I won't even mention "GPL" or "OpenSource". 

        GNU is a project, it is definitely not a term describing the
 synergy inherent in free software communities. It is o more
 applicable than Debian or Apache, though onot for the reasons you
 cite. (Actually, I have a problem with the reason, because mere
 controversy should not invalidate an otherwiwse correct term). 

        The GPL is a licence; it definitely is not applicable either.

        OpenSource comes closest, but it is a descritpion of licencing
 terms of software, and definitely not a descriptive term for the
 phenomena

 Atul> In the past (and currently), I have used the name "Linux" to
 Atul> describe the phenomenon, for no other reason that people
 Atul> identify with it, recognise it and associate it with success
 Atul> through technical prowess rather than brute political
 Atul> force. This means that I effectively look at Linux as neither a
 Atul> kernel nor an OS, but as a movement, or a symptom.

        That is certainly a unique perspective.

 Atul> I wonder whether this is acceptable, though? Reading some
 Atul> recent posts, and transcripts of speeches, I wonder whether
 Atul> this is OK or whether this "third perspective" of mine is just
 Atul> leading the troops into yet another minefield?

        It would not be a minefield, but it is definitely counter
 intuitive and confusing, since the terms you have picked so far have
 very definite meaning to people, and none fo their meaning/usage is
 quite what you are trying to convey.

        My advice is to coin a word or a phrase -- invoke synergy,
 distributed eyeballs, release often, release early, etc.

        Doesn't ESR's Bazaar come close to describing it?

        manoj
-- 
 "To me, on of the most exciting things in the world is being poor,
 and survival, such an exciting challenge." Thomas S. Monaghan,
 Founder, Domino's Pizza and Legatus, "National Catholic Reporter",
 3/23/90, as quoted in "The Far Right, Speaking For Themselves," a
 Planned Parenthood pamphlet
Manoj Srivastava   <srivasta@xxxxxxxxxx>  <http://www.debian.org/%7Esrivasta/>
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