[OT] Volunteering (was Re: [Ilugc] Google vs Yahoo, again!)
- From: knura@xxxxxxxxx (Arun Khan)
- Date: Tue Jun 17 00:48:31 2008
On Thursday 12 Jun 2008, Kapil Hari Paranjape wrote:
On Thu, 12 Jun 2008, Arun Khan wrote:
On Thursday 12 Jun 2008, Kapil Hari Paranjape wrote:
Which is why having a community supported service sounds
increasingly like a good idea. Let's see if there is some "prior
art" which can help.
This works when there are a number of volunteers who can fill each
other's roles.
I agree that a lot of people must chip-in. Each person using the
service can (in a small or big way) contribute to its running. Part
of the "prior-art" question is how does one set up things so that
this contribution is possible. For example, bug-reporting must work
well. Some sort of user upgradation system is required. And so on.
My general observation (including LUGs), when there is a call for
volunteers most step *back* leaving the one who proposed holding
the baton.
Such pessimism is unwarranted. How do volunteer supported services
(use Debian?!) work? The point is to make the service so vibrant that
no one can do without it.
Easier said than done. The point is any service to be vibrant needs
help (a lot) - ideas, organizing, execution .... Professional services
charge lacs for comparable happenings.
I am an optimist; over the past 28 years or so, I have volunteered
myself in community activities, sometimes paying for travel, board and
lodging from my pocket. Likewise, I do it for promoting/advocating
open source.
It is not pessimism but ground reality. Volunteer supported service
like Debian is global and thus the volunteer pool of dedicated
individuals is large. They have a different mind set. IMO, there is
no comparison.
My observation/comments are specific to smaller and local activities.
Case in point, the FOSS related conferences I have attended. Only
handful of volunteers come forward to organize, execute, and manage the
events. Invariably, I have seen the same few faces (of the dedicated
individuals) working their a** off.
-- Arun Khan
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