David A. Harding
Sunday, 17 Apr 2005
This Saturday and Sunday I helped LUG/IP staff a couple tables at the Trenton Computer Fest (TCF). It was amazing. I guestimate 300+ GNU/Linux fans, or wannabe fans, came up to the tables. 100 of them filled out their contact information to be added to the LUG/IP mailing list and ~150 walked away with LUG/IP's customised and branded LiveCD.
I found connecting with all of these people, if only for a minute or two each, to be exhilarating. A surprisingly large number of them had already installed GNU/Linux on a ``basement box,'' but hadn't really played around with it. We also got to meet some free software veterans, like the guy with a USB Mass Storage watch with DamnSmallLinux on it. Ed Corrado and John Lemasney of LUG/IP each gave a talk. John's talk on ``Linux'' and ``Open Source'' applications was standing room only and almost exceeded the limits of space in the room by the time he finished. Being able to share with the hundreds of geeks that came to the table this thing I enjoy made me feel like the king of the world.
I also learned some rather interesting things, mostly by trial-and- error. Firstly, I am happy to report that saying ``GNU/Linux'' to the casual observer of our community does not seem to turn them off—or even turn them to stone. Of the hundred or so people to whom I said, ``Are you interested in GNU/Linux?'' naught but two were confused (and one had no idea what ``Linux'' was either). Though, as the days progressed I started to understand a bit better why Stallman says, ``GNU-slash- Linux:'' the words run together and it does feel like you're saying Linux is a GNU project.
The final lesson I learned is probably the most important but also the most obvious: our community was designed—20+ years ago—to share. By not performing the kind of community outreach that the LUG/IP folks spent the last two days doing, we are missing an exceptional chance to play our greatest strength against proprietary software's fundamental weakness. The more we share the more we grow; the more they grow the less they share.