The Free Software movement never escaped from its origins: the early ‘80s MIT AI Lab. Two things were true in this environment:
Back when most computers had tens of KiBs of RAM and 1 MiB was a hug...
@nprofile1q...
There’s also a massive and relatively unaddressed social problem in the free software movement. Many people there don’t understand:
People won’t like you if you’re mean to them
No amount of being good at software will change that
There are two major consequences of this. The first is that, for free software to succeed, projects that require teamwork are necessary. These are made much harder when they’re helmed by someone who’s an asshole, even if they’re competent. I would go so far as saying that being an asshole makes you incompetent at teamwork.
The second is that if people can’t get over themselves enough to teach noobs, you’ll never get the reach to build communities where people want to share improvements, or to built an environment where people see the benefits of free software.
There’s also a massive and relatively unaddressed social problem in the free software movement. Many people there don’t understand:
People won’t like you if you’re mean to them
No amount of being good at software will change that
There are two major consequences of this. The first is that, for free software to succeed, projects that require teamwork are necessary. These are made much harder when they’re helmed by someone who’s an asshole, even if they’re competent. I would go so far as saying that being an asshole makes you incompetent at teamwork.
The second is that if people can’t get over themselves enough to teach noobs, you’ll never get the reach to build communities where people want to share improvements, or to built an environment where people see the benefits of free software.
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