Re: Re: Please share your linux experiences....

[Atul Chitnis <achitnis@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Fri, 17 Mar 2000, Mrinal Kalakrishnan wrote:

> I was speaking with specific reference to the list, not Linux in
> India. 

And I am speaking about Linux in India. The list cannot be an end in
itself, it must be part of something much larger, much more comprehensive
and compelling.

> Everybody knows that you have done wonders for Linux in India,
> but now, what about the list? 

I was not trying to pound my drum, if that is what you are referring to. I
was answering your question.

The activities I mentioned *all* included the list as a focal point, but I
will *not* accept the list as the all and everything as far as Linux India
is concerned.

> My point was that if you felt that there
> was something wrong with the list, and that the way it works should be
> changed, then you should have done something about it. Instead of
> quietly dropping out. After all, the list could be called the main
> Linux resource in India.

I tried, many times. I mailed people privately, I yelled publicly, I made
suggestions, I dropped out once before (that time publicly). The problem
seems to be diverging visions - I want to see an organisation building,
but others just want to have a good time on the list, but nothing more.

The list is only a conduit, the people who contribute to it are the main
Linux resource. And these people must be given a structure, a framework on
which they can build something comprehensive, so that their work (in the
form of answers) is not lost over time.

> Don't you feel that this problem can be remedied? And, BTW, if you
> happened to be on the list, probably the number of zeroes would have
> been less. If this is the reason why you left the list, well, I don't
> understand it.

Mrinal - no one here is going to accuse me of not practicing what I was
preaching. I answered questions till my fingers were sore, but the
frustration at having the same question come up the very next day was
unbelievable. It was as if I was talking to myself, and I am sure I was
not the only one feeling that way.

For me there were other deterring factors - the constant sniping at me and
the magazine I write for was decidedly unfunny. I and PCQ even got
accused of "using LI as a marketing tool". When it got too much, I
dropped out.

The zeros on the right side will probably increase in number as more and
more people who know something drop out or at least stop answering. Even
my own collegues at Exocore have given up - long before I did. And
stalwarts like Raj Mathur only make weekly appearances these days. Arun,
Thaths and others rarely post anything unless it is an absolutely new
problem. KD has dropped out altogether.

Many, if not all, are also under tremendous pressure at work. Add to this
the frustration of not really achieving anything because of the temporary
nature of the lists, and the unbelievably low signal-to-noise ratio, and
you have a sure recipe for "dropoutitis".

It can be argued that Linux no longer needs the "push" since it has now
achieved critical mass and is in the commercial domain. Don't kid yourself
for a moment - I have seen things come and go faster than you will
believe. 

Sadly, many people will only see the hyped up face of Linux, through
commercial entities who couldn't care less if Linux lives or dies, as long
as they can make a fast buck off it. Should the glamour fade, they'll drop
Linux like a hot brick.

The only thing that can save Linux from this fate is a community - one
that we should be building.

But we aren't.  And that is my big complaint.

Try and see things beyond the casual list posting/reading that many of you
associate with Linux today. There is a huge country here, with massive
potential. All we need to do is get them to use Linux, and understand its
benefits.

Instead, we are sitting here on our haunches, squabbling over licenses
and script kiddies, while Microsoft, who follows neither BSD or GPL,
happily annexes state after state with "Indianised" Windows speaking
Devanagari and Tamil?

Do you know that even the NIC, the organisation that has taken on the task
of ensuring that all regions are connected and that data flows between
them, forces people to use Windows because they insist on the use of
routing cards that only have Windows drivers?

Do you know that the average Indian (if at all computer savvy) equates
computers with Windows, and thinks that "Linux is not for the ordinary
people" but only for techies?

Or that most people perceive Linux as something wholly segragated from
Windows, and that using Linux means complete and absolute data
incompatibility?

So who do *you* think is going to go out and change all that?

Bill Gates?

If LI doesn't break its "it's only a list" mindset soon, it will be a
washout, a has been, a miserable failure. It will have done more for
Microsoft than Bill Gates could, because if Linux fails to click here in
India, the TINA ("There is no alternative") concept will be solidly
reinforced.

To break this "chalta hai" mindset, we need to do far more than provide a
platform for people to have flamewars on. We'll need to do a lot more than
breed license/distro wars.

Many people here have forgotten that this is Linux *INDIA*, and are
beginning to equate these lists with any other lists the world over.

If that is the case, and if this is to be the fate of LI, then we aren't
sharing the same vision, or even the same goals. We are working at
cross-purposes.

And that, Mrinal, is what I am acertain right now. 

All indications are that LI's fate is "list-only", with no action outside
its electronic boundaries. If that is the case, I am wasting my time here,
and if you care about Linux, so are you.

Atul