[FM Discuss] the presentation

[Derek Holzer]

Not to be the Bad Guy here, but if you take away attribution what other 
motivation remains to get people working without pay? My guess it would 
be altruism, which may be a motivating factor for some but not all of 
the contributing writers. Those with a social-activist type background 
may find that motivation enough, for example, but in the creative arts 
(my own background) you will often find that altruism takes a far 
backseat to reputation.

I would further argue that attribution is also a major motivating factor 
in the Free Software world, i.e. the very subject of the docs we are 
writing. People code stuff to make a name for themselves in their 
respective communities, just as some FLOSS Manuals writers might 
contribute content just to see their names in print (a classic Web 2.0 
strategy that still seems to work--people blog and comment away like mad 
in order to get their names up on a popular website and be *noticed*). 
If FLOSS Manuals is carrying on the Free + Open Source tradition, it 
can't ignore this motivational aspect of it.

And finally, I might point out that when artists ask me why they might 
want to give away their images/videos/music/words for free, my usual 
response is that people aren't paying much for these kinds of things 
anyways these days, so the "free exposure" of open-licensed content 
could be a gateway to personal 
engagements/readings/lectures/workshops/commissions/performances or 
other kinds of paid work that might actually pay their rent. I 
personally make no bones about the fact that I write documentation as a 
way of promoting myself as a workshop instructor.

I think these kind of real-world considerations should be kept in mind 
during discussions like this. Flame away if you will... ;-)

Best!
Derek