As a first time facilitator and participant, Asia Source 3 was a learning experience. It was not the typical workshop or conference as it was 6 day camp for us. There were focused discussions, activities and parties practically every single day. During the day, we’ were quite busy with the various discussions and activities that deal with open source communities and tools that we need for managing information, migration, broadcasting information and growing a community. The diverse backgrounds of the participants also make it even cooler because of the way that everyone will interact and perspectives and experiences are shared.

One of the things I learned from camp is that even introverts can be a little bit more social once they have an environment where they can somehow be themselves. Introducing myself to people at camp wasn’t exactly the easiest thing to do but my geeky shirts were a starting point in some cases. Or my interest in localization led me to interesting people who shared what they do in Cambodia and Bangladesh. This for me is a precious lesson on interacting with others in the community. This is face to face interaction, not online. And it is better than just knowing someone via email. You could see the faces of the people behind the project/s and that takes the whole community-bonding experience to a different level. For me, you could not be as impersonal about a project anymore when you encounter such awesome people from different projects who are very passionate about open source.

For those who were just new to Linux and the entire open source philosophy, they looked even more excited after camp because they have so many things to share with others. It makes them want to experience the same environment at the source camp in their own country too. People who make things happen are simply that awesome!

For those who want to see the Asia Source 3 Wiki, it’s now online.

Post from: New Linux User

Online, there are many forums and mailing lists. There are also feed aggregators that let us know more about the people behind communities of developers and users. It can’t be helped that they are visible online because of their passion for free and open source software. As for those who are in the forums and mailing lists, sometimes discussions could get heated because of that. Differences in opinion arise. But at the end of the day, there are people who become friends because of the discussions that they have — whether it’s people who help each other learn, whether it’s people who argue with each other who still maintain a healthy respect for their differences, etc. there are friendships being developed. That’s why sometimes you could probably see them joking with each other online.

And then there are local communities. If you’re a part of a local community, you could join launch parties of the distro you’re using, and/or advocating, etc. Sometimes you meet up with each other, just because you want to hang out. The geographic location does help during times like that. Sometimes you start becoming good friends after a couple of times of hanging out because of learning sessions of Linux. It’s your common interest that starts the friendship and it’s the commitment with each other that makes it go on.

I’ve met (and still meet) people because of Linux and some of them are my good friends up to now. I learn technical stuff with them but I also joke with them and hang out with them just because and it’s really enjoyable. There’s nothing like friendship to help you enjoy your life.

Post from: New Linux User

However, not all people think that way. Most people would still prefer to pay for licenses. Well, or download the application for free. So how now?

At home, it’s more manageable, in a way. You have less users to deal with but they could be more stubborn than 10 other users combined. In any case, it’s easier to study the habits of your family and/or housemates compared to an entire organization. Studying them will take time and interaction with them too. But then you get to have a better grasp of what software they need, what tasks they need to accomplish etc. In an office, it gets trickier because each person has different needs and there’s a whole lot of them so you have to study them a lot.

But here are some ideas that might help you:
1. Give them training time. Sometimes this is all what is needed but it is often neglected because we sometimes assume too much.
2. Show them that there are really awesome software for their tasks and make sure that the software you tell them does answer their needs. Else, they might not like it either.
3. Guide them if possible. Some people might have tasks that are critical and the tools they use are too specialized. New software might take some getting used to and so patience is a must! If they get too frustrated right away they might give up altogether.
4. Force them to use Linux. Sometimes people learn because they have no other choice. This could backfire. But on some people it does work. Just make sure that their tasks are not highly specialized or else: they will just complain.
5. Show them that the software works. This convinces people a lot. If the application has a good user interface, the better. People do not just care if it works — they also care about how they’re supposed to be using it.

I want to know other ways to show to others that FOSS and Linux in particular are awesome. It’s just that there are people who are very difficult to convince. How have you convinced others about Linux?

Post from: New Linux User