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Interesting reflection. I agree that you can be part of the 'open source community' without committing code. As an aside, this discourse of 'community' that ha
by firasd 10y ago
Interesting reflection. I agree that you can be part of the 'open source community' without committing code.
As an aside, this discourse of 'community' that has been developing over the last few years has never sat perfectly well for me. Can an activity in which tens of thousands of people worldwide participate ever really be a singular 'Community?' Communities are great in many ways, but there is a creepiness to such semantics too, such as enforced commonality of values or behavior. Can you be a skateboarder without being part of The Skateboarding Community? Maybe we need to talk about 'cultures' or 'subcultures' in tech, not just 'communities'.
- golemotron 10y agoI reserve the word "community" for people I physically see often, at least once a month. Virtual communities are never as grounded or fulfilling. It's a mistake to use the same word for both.
- icebraining 10y agoOkay, so what do you call a body of people who do not fulfill that criteria?
- golemotron 10y agoPeople longing for community.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- icebraining 10y agoIt seems like you're talking about a specific kind of community, which isn't really what's under discussion here, in my opinion. The open source community exists in the same way as (and partially overlaps) the scientific community.
- nebabyte 10y ago- Some hobbies use the word "scene" to refer to the 'subset of the general public that does this thing', so there's that - A community can also refer to a diverse set of individuals who happen to have something in common. I'm a part of my local community, even though god knows there are people here who are unlike me, and/or whose values or behavior might differ from my own.
- pseudalopex 10y agoI don't think it's anything new. People have talked about the open source community, the scientific community, the black community, etc. for decades.
- scandox 10y agoI think there is a difference in the use of the term Community depending on who is using it. To some the 'scientific community' is just a term describing the body of people writing papers, reading papers and attending conferences. To another it may mean a group of people whose collective scientific activities and values enrich that individual's life and are a significant part of their work motivation and emotional satisfaction. I think there is a natural friction between those two views. Some people are solely motivated by their work and view other aspects of community as a bothersome necessity, or at best a source of a few collegial laughs. To others the work and the wider communal epiphenomenon are deeply intertwined: they would likely not sustain interest in the work without it. I think both views have their merits- but they don't mix well.
- rdiddly 10y agoPeople do over-apply the word a little bit. (I blame the Community Community.) The meaning has been expanded from signifying only what I would call strongly-bound communities, to include any group with something in common. People seem to want community and be eager to see it in contexts where the ties are weak. I would say it's a bit oversold, and of course (where it exists) community has drawbacks too, such as the inevitable hierarchies, conformity and gatekeeping. And individuals usually have to give more than they get in return, to make a community work. But they are the only way to get shit done!