[TOS] TeachingOpenSource.org - Infrastructure Plans

Matthew Jadud mjadud at allegheny.edu
Mon Aug 2 12:03:18 UTC 2010


On Sun, Aug 1, 2010 at 23:10, David Nalley <david at gnsa.us> wrote:
> willingly offering time/people/resources/money to education in general
> and TOS.o specifically, but there's also a point at which too much
> help hinders rather than aids the growth of a community.

I've heard this a few times now: "too much support hinders the growth
of a community."

I'm going to claim this is false in the given context, and let others
push back. The TOS community is clearly a mixed bag: people who are
teaching open source "as a passion," and others who are working to
make it part of their professional practice. The former is in keeping
with the traditional conception of open source and open communities
(volunteer effort, come-and-go-as-you-please, being "productively
lost," etc.), while the blend in the latter case is unlike any model
that we're familiar with (but I welcome comparisons/examples).

So, perhaps it is true that support hinders the growth of volunteer
communities (I'd like evidence). I doubt it is true when you're asking
professionals to fundamentally shift their day-to-day practice.

Cheers,
Matt



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