[FM Discuss] Possible collaboration with Floss Manuals
chris hofmann
chofmann at meer.net
Sat Aug 8 10:20:39 PDT 2009
Steve Lake wrote:
> At 03:27 PM 8/7/2009 -0400, you wrote:
>> The educational work is ongoing; a lot of people have been doing it
>> for some time. I don't have much hope of reaching the "soccer mom"
>> unengaged public. What I see is that someone gets interested in some
>> other topic that's related to what she wants to do, then discovers
>> open source. For instance, a school administrator is facing a big
>> collection of old computers that can't be upgraded to Vista--and
>> looking around for a solution, discovers Linux.
>
> Well, you guys would then be working with what I see as the
> second tier learners. Those who know about it and want to learn
> more. I'm trying to go after the people who don't know about it,
> and/or have never heard about it will increase the number of people
> who are actively looking into Linux and FOSS projects. But if they
> don't know about it, they're more than likely to stay where they are
> in a proprietary, Windows controlled world.
>
> I've used the car analogy before to explain this, where you
> take Ford and Toyota and put them on the same car lot together. The
> customer who comes in and sees both cars (for argument's sake, let's
> say that Ford is completely junk and Toyota is the best in the world,
> all true arguments aside), recognizes the Ford, but has never ever
> seen or heard of Toyota before. They'll without hesitation buy the
> Ford over the Toyota, even if it is a gleaming, steaming pile of poo
> simply because they know Ford, but they don't know Toyota.
>
Good ideas Andy. A few comments now and more when I get some more time.
There is a great extension of this idea in "What would Google Do"
after 100 years of the auto industry there is still no "open platform"
for automobile development. Automobile development is locked up in
security silos, followed by an auto press paparazzi. Hundreds of
models, and not 1 "open" model. Try and hack the computer in your
car that might deliver better gas mileage and you void the warrenty.
try make your prius electric only and you void the warranty.
how far along in gas mileage innovation might we be if open source
principals were applied to the auto industry?
> Same is true in the FOSS world. We first have to get it in
> front of the eyes of the people, explain why it's important that they
> know, how it can benefit them, and then leave it up to them to make
> the next step. :) But they have to know first before they'll make
> that next step. The "soccer moms" typically won't do that on their
> own, and since we've already pretty well picked the tree clean of the
> traditional "low hanging fruit", ie those people who would find this
> stuff out on their own, the next group to go after are those that
> won't do it on their own initially, but need a tiny little nudge to
> get going. I want to provide that nudge.
>
Interesting you used the word "nudge."
This is a great book for those that want to understand the dynamics of
giving and receiving "nudges."
http://www.amazon.com/Nudge-Improving-Decisions-Health-Happiness/dp/014311526X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1247020630&sr=1-1
>> Or an artist who's frustrated that his favorite software package just
>> tripled in price, and removed a key feature he was depending on,
>> starts looking at open solutions. And maybe discovers Creative
>> Commons along the way.
>>
>> There are already commercial books that reach out to business
>> executives, and books on "how to switch." I don't think those books
>> sell very well. But I think FLOSS does need a succinct "this is what
>> it is and why it's good" description, and that it should be free.
>>
>> I'll contact some people over the weekend who might be interested. Is
>> anyone making up an outline? What's the current thinking on that:
>> authors first and outline second, or outline first and authors second?
>>
Back many threads ago, I suggested that a goal for FLOSS Manuals
Projects might be to create the blockbuster book that many people talked
about. I think this exact topic is one that might produce for that
blockbuster book.
But its not "Open Source Advocacy."
Its more like "Why embracing transparency, openness, collaboration,
participation, peer review, and distributed decision making, are
important for creating software, the internet, long term sustainability
of organizations and life."
or "How to measure "Open"" or just some trendy title like "Open!"
I've also been thinking about a heretical title for conference talk
"Beyond the Four Freedoms"
;-)
Free and Open source is a great example that embodies those principals,
and a study in a deep dive into extremes of openness in some cases.
Apache, Mozilla and Firefox are examples of how open source can be used
to fend off and break up big blue monopolies of central control, but
there are many more.
I'd be really excited to participate in this. I've got more ideas for
the outline. I think we should to even consider several outlines and
several books with a few different perspectives tuned to slightly
different audiences.
-chofmann
>> Andy
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Steve Lake" <steve.lake at raiden.net>
>> To: "Andy Oram" <andyo at oreilly.com>, discuss at lists.flossmanuals.net
>> Sent: Friday, August 7, 2009 2:32:30 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
>> Subject: Re: [FM Discuss] [Fwd: Re: [FM PR] Possible collaboration
>> with Floss Manuals]
>>
>> Well, advocacy is part of it. Most of what I was after is
>> "what
>> is it" followed by "what can it do for you?" So yeah, it's advocacy
>> to a
>> degree. But I wanted to focus first on telling them what it was,
>> then once
>> they know that, move over to how it can benefit them.
>>
>> It's like telling someone who's never seen a car, nor has
>> any idea
>> what one is that a car is very useful to them. First inform them of
>> what a
>> car is, THEN explain how it can benefit them. ;) See my logic
>> here? Most
>> of the people I'm targeting are what I jokingly like to call "soccer
>> moms". (That's football for our European members. hehe) IE,
>> computers,
>> software and operating systems are the last thing on their mind. So we
>> have to first explain to them what they are so they're on equal footing
>> with us when we get to the important part, why it's best for them.
>>
>> At 01:39 PM 8/7/2009 -0400, Andy Oram wrote:
>> >Are you focusing on advocacy--teaching people how to explain the
>> benefits
>> >of free software and ease the transition to it? If so, I can pull
>> together
>> >some people I've talked to about that in Europe and Latin America. And
>> >even North America.
>> >
>> >Andy
>> >
>> >----- Original Message -----
>> >From: "adam hyde" <adam at flossmanuals.net>
>> >To: "floss" <discuss at lists.flossmanuals.net>
>> >Cc: "Steve Lake" <steve.lake at raiden.net>
>> >Sent: Friday, August 7, 2009 10:51:37 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
>> >Subject: [FM Discuss] [Fwd: Re: [FM PR] Possible collaboration with
>> Floss
>> >Manuals]
>> >
>> >hi,
>> >
>> >This is an email discussion (see below) between myself and Steve
>> Lake of
>> >Raidens Realm (http://raiden.net/) about a course he is starting. Steve
>> >has been a great supporter of FM and is looking to work with us to
>> >develop a textbook about free software. I suggested perhaps we bring
>> >this discussion to the FM list...
>> >
>> >It would be super if we could design and create a text book with steve
>> >for his course....anyone keen?
>> >
>> >(please cc Steve in replies)
>> >
>> >adam
>> >
>> >-------- Forwarded Message --------
>> >From: Steve Lake <steve.lake at raiden.net>
>> >To: adam at flossmanuals.net, pr at lists.flossmanuals.net
>> >Subject: Re: [FM PR] Possible collaboration with Floss Manuals
>> >Date: Thu, 06 Aug 2009 15:37:42 -0400
>> >
>> >Nope, didn't have any specific books, as I'm still in the
>> >beginning stages of this. But I was hoping that when we were done, we
>> >could have a generic intro course that could be taught in 2-5 hours
>> >(depending on how much time someone had to do the course) to help us
>> Linux
>> >and FOSS enthusiasts, especially those without teaching ability, to
>> be able
>> >to go out, inform the public, and make sure they know that there's
>> choices
>> >out there, and what some of those are. Because the more they know, the
>> >better.
>> >
>> > From there, if they were curious enough to continue, a
>> selection
>> >of books could be given to them to get them started learning Linux
>> and FOSS
>> >apps, the latter dependent on what they need. I could easily add a
>> list at
>> >the end of the course that says, "for more info on subject x or y,
>> go to
>> >floss manuals and get this and this book." So basically this would
>> benefit
>> >you guys by first getting them in the door, and then handing them
>> off to
>> >you for further educating.
>> >
>> > I do however like the idea that you guys are developing
>> actual
>> >course books. That sounds quite exciting and interesting. How big
>> of a
>> >course do you expect these books to be? A full 14 week course, or
>> >something that could be done in an afternoon or a week at most?
>> >
>> >At 08:37 PM 8/6/2009 +0200, adam hyde wrote:
>> > >hey Steve,
>> > >
>> > >I dont want to any individual but i think FM in general is
>> interested in
>> > >developing Text Books. We have recently been in touch with Goldsmiths
>> > >(Graham Harwood and Matthew Fuller) to see if there is a
>> possibility to
>> > >develop course books with them.
>> > >
>> > >It seems this is a possibility. so, we are already on the path and
>> any
>> > >possible collaboration is a good idea.
>> > >
>> > >For your project did you have any specific books in mind?
>> > >
>> > >also, do you know this:
>> > >http://teachingopensource.org/index.php/Main_Page
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >adam
>> > >
>> > >On Thu, 2009-08-06 at 10:14 -0400, Steve Lake wrote:
>> > > > http://forums.raiden.net/viewtopic.php?t=21911
>> > > >
>> > > > Thought that might interest you guys. I'm starting a
>> project to
>> > > > develop a Linux and FOSS education and training course.
>> Something that
>> > > > could be put into the hands of just any joe and used to
>> introduce people
>> > > > Linux and FOSS. I'd love to see if you guys could help out with
>> > > developing
>> > > > a course like this, and in return we could put it into book
>> form for sale
>> > > > in the FLOSS manuals bookstore. The goal of the project is to
>> introduce
>> > > > them to Linux and FOSS, get them in the door so to speak, and
>> get them
>> > > > interested in learning more.
>> > > >
>> > > > It's an education focused approach to promoting FOSS
>> and Linux
>> > > > designed to replace the old elitist "RTFM" and Evangelistic
>> approaches
>> > > > currently used today. You guys are great at writing and
>> developing help
>> > > > guides, manuals, and the like, so I figured if you wanted to
>> jump in and
>> > > > help, we could easily toss a whole bunch of Floss manuals and book
>> > > > references into the project too in order to help you guys in
>> return. :)
>> > > >
>> > > > Whatcha say? Interested?
>> > > >
>> > > >
>> > > > Steven Lake
>> > > > Owner/Chief Editor
>> > > > Raiden's Realm
>> > > > www.raiden.net
>> > > > Bringing Linux to the World
>> > > >
>> > > >
>> > > > _______________________________________________
>> > > > pr mailing list
>> > > > pr at lists.flossmanuals.net
>> > > > http://lists.flossmanuals.net/listinfo.cgi/pr-flossmanuals.net
>> > >--
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >_______________________________________________
>> >Discuss mailing list
>> >Discuss at lists.flossmanuals.net
>> >http://lists.flossmanuals.net/listinfo.cgi/discuss-flossmanuals.net
>> >
>> >--
>> >----------------------------------------------------------------------
>> >Andy Oram O'Reilly Media email: andyo at oreilly.com
>> >Editor 10 Fawcett Street, Fourth Floor voice: 617-499-7479
>> > Cambridge, MA 02138-1175, USA fax: 617-661-1116
>> > identi.ca/twitter:praxagora http://www.praxagora.com/andyo/
>> >----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Steven Lake
>> Owner/Chief Editor
>> Raiden's Realm
>> www.raiden.net
>> Bringing Linux to the World
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>> Andy Oram O'Reilly Media email: andyo at oreilly.com
>> Editor 10 Fawcett Street, Fourth Floor voice: 617-499-7479
>> Cambridge, MA 02138-1175, USA fax: 617-661-1116
>> identi.ca/twitter:praxagora http://www.praxagora.com/andyo/
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Steven Lake
> Owner/Chief Editor
> Raiden's Realm
> www.raiden.net
> Bringing Linux to the World
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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> Discuss at lists.flossmanuals.net
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