EUIST

One way to become famous is to:

- act silly on camera,

- win some type of TV contest, and

- some type of variation (e.g., hosting your own show might not hurt if you want to become a celebrity)

But for some people who do not necessarly want to stand in the limelight or get their 30 seconds of fame, there are other ways to become better known in one’s community. For instance, the virtual world offers rare opportunities for geeks to show off a bit and, more importantly, to do some serious good for fellow computer or software users out there.

Andy Oram has done some exploratory research on why people are willing to exert so much time and effort to help improve free software documentation. Something that can save users much time and grief, as we all know, of course. Andy has been curious about this topic for quite some time. However, now he went out to collect some responses  from people involved with writing free documentation for open source software. So what reasons do people have to provide this time-consuming contribution for the larger community of users out there? The study addresses such issues as:

- why do people work so hard to contribute to the larger good of the community when it pertains to software code?

- what drives individuals to spend much time on improve free documentation to help others find their way?

- does altruism mix comfortably with self-seeking goals?

- what are some reason for contributing to such community efforts?

– could it be that writing means the writer benefits by being able to learn and grasp the software’s possibilities better by explaining it via improving upon its documentation?

And while Andy points out that his few hundred responses to open-ended questions from a non-representative sample should not be generalized from, the data do empower Andy to tell us a convincing story.

Check it out…. it is worth a weekend read (no,m it is not too long but once you start you will hardly want to stop, trust me – you could actually find yourself mirrored in one of these responses Andy got, could you not?)

- Andy Oram (June 14, 2007). Why Do People Write Free Documentation? Results of a Survey – Available Online from OnLamp.com

And to close with a quote out of Andy’s report:

‘I believe that behind the idealism, the empathy, and even the experience of fun cited by respondents lies a basic human imperative to educate others. This imperative allows children to pick up the skills and cultural traits they need to mature. How, otherwise, could the human race survive from generation to generation? Even after the invention of formal education, many of the most important skills have been passed on the way that human cultures have always done it: by people mentoring and guiding those who are just a few years younger.If (as I believe) quite primitive drives toward power and magic fuel a lot of software hacking, the drive toward passing on facts and cultural norms fuel the burgeoning area of online documentation.’

Andy, thanks for an interesting study about an important topic – free software documentation.

SUBSCRIPTION

To make it more convenient for you to take advantage of CyTRAP Labs’ offerings, just provide us with your e-mail address below. You can personalize your subscription to make it suit your needs.