I understand, I'll not inquire about this any further. Forgive me for the rant, but I'm just a nobody in this community. I started to get involved a year ago, and from what I could gather, the tech community thrives under abrasive personalities (Torvalds, de Raadt, RMS) simply because of one thing: they know how to run the show. People dislike, hate them. But no one wants to stand up to the task of taking over and doing a better job. You may think some of your posts don't reach many people, but they do. When you called for the community to be better, it struck a chord with me. But not in a good way. I remember asking myself the same question a few months ago. And the answer I've arrived at was:
Can the community be better? Absolutely. Does the community WANT to be better? No.
And that's where it all falls apart. I may be repeating myself here, but your dream of a community of empowerment is one many people share. But do people REALLY want it? Because what I've seen so far... well, let's just say I've become disillusioned really quickly. People don't really want change. They want to complain. They want some kind of magical solution that removes only the people they dislike and leaves them alone to do their stuff. That's why people are satisfied with letting abrasive personalities walk all over them. Because deep down, they know they aren't up to the task. They know that, if they ever step onto the center of the stage, they won't be themselves anymore. They'll make a lot of enemies really fast - just by taking centerstage, they'll splinter the community. Some people won't like them on principle. Others, because of connections. And that dreamer who just wanted to make the community a better place, is left alone, trying to forever patch up a community that isn't worth all the time they've spent on it. I guess that's why people like RMS and Torvalds thrive in our community: they don't really care. They don't have to make goody-goody with people. I'm not saying that it's the right way, it's just the way things are right now - and that just makes everyone miserable.
Well, that was a weight off my shoulders. Sorry for taking your time.
Power management, mobile and firmware developer on Linux. Security developer at Aurora. Ex-biologist. mjg59 on Twitter. Content here should not be interpreted as the opinion of my employer. Also on Mastodon.
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Date: 2019-09-15 06:47 pm (UTC)Forgive me for the rant, but I'm just a nobody in this community. I started to get involved a year ago, and from what I could gather, the tech community thrives under abrasive personalities (Torvalds, de Raadt, RMS) simply because of one thing: they know how to run the show. People dislike, hate them. But no one wants to stand up to the task of taking over and doing a better job. You may think some of your posts don't reach many people, but they do. When you called for the community to be better, it struck a chord with me. But not in a good way. I remember asking myself the same question a few months ago. And the answer I've arrived at was:
Can the community be better? Absolutely.
Does the community WANT to be better? No.
And that's where it all falls apart. I may be repeating myself here, but your dream of a community of empowerment is one many people share. But do people REALLY want it? Because what I've seen so far... well, let's just say I've become disillusioned really quickly. People don't really want change. They want to complain. They want some kind of magical solution that removes only the people they dislike and leaves them alone to do their stuff. That's why people are satisfied with letting abrasive personalities walk all over them. Because deep down, they know they aren't up to the task. They know that, if they ever step onto the center of the stage, they won't be themselves anymore. They'll make a lot of enemies really fast - just by taking centerstage, they'll splinter the community. Some people won't like them on principle. Others, because of connections. And that dreamer who just wanted to make the community a better place, is left alone, trying to forever patch up a community that isn't worth all the time they've spent on it.
I guess that's why people like RMS and Torvalds thrive in our community: they don't really care. They don't have to make goody-goody with people. I'm not saying that it's the right way, it's just the way things are right now - and that just makes everyone miserable.
Well, that was a weight off my shoulders. Sorry for taking your time.