[Cialug] Promotion and Faith. (Was RE: A little something for everyone)

[Josh More]

There has been a bit of discussion about this post privately, and I wanted to address some things before folks got back to work on Monday and began reacting en masse.

For many of us, it was unclear that the original post was promoting an open source project.  In fact, it looked a lot like a commercial posting.  However, after digging through the linked page a bit, it became clear that the application is free to use and the source is available.  Thus, though it triggered a "this is spam" response in many of us, I am not comfortable declaring this post to be spam.  After all, if promoting an open source project that is not directly Linux-related were an issue, a LOT of us would be in trouble here.  :)

However, the faith issue is a problematic one.  I've been thinking about it for hours, and I think I've uncovered what the fundamental issue here is.  Our group is about open source software and open source ideals.  We tend to not directly discuss the ideals very often, but they're there nonetheless.  I think that what bothered me the most about this wasn't the clear faith-based slant, but the segmentation of society.  I believe that the intent here was to say that original poster was willing to work on other projects, but is unwilling to devote his personal time to someone that does not share his personal beliefs.  That's fine.  However, the "us vs them" where one side gets time and support and the other side gets cash seems counter to the inclusiveness of our group.

>From an administrative perspective, I will not be banning Brian for spamming, as this seems to be less an issue of spam and more an issue of a confusingly-worded promotion of an open source project.  However, I will ask that future postings of this nature keep the following in mind:

* Projects are promoted more effectively when it is clear what the project does, how it is used and where the source code may be downloaded.  Use cases help here.

* When offering your time to something, make mention of your own skillset and what you bring to a project.  I would rather have 2h per week of someone highly skilled than 20h per week of someone who is not.  There are projects that are benefited by people of all skill levels and those that are not.

* Start with a discussion about needs instead of just offering time.  It helps both the project maintainers and those serving as resources to know up-front what is needed.  That way people are working to improve the project, not working just to work.

* While faith can be a very important part of the human experience, recognize and accept that others may have faiths of a different varieties and intensities than you do.  This group, in particular, is made of people who are intensely Christian, Atheist and Pagan.  We have a lot of people who are Agnostic and we probably have many whose faiths of which I know nothing.  What we have in common is tolerance and acceptance.  While this post was not evangelical in nature, it was far closer than we usually see here, and it tripped some people's hot buttons.  I recognize that we are a self-managed group and I cannot set policy that goes against group consensus, but my reading of general group consensus is that there is a line between expressing one's faith as part of daily life and doing so in an "in your face" sort of way that makes other feel uncomfortable.  If a discussion crosses that line and makes others uncomfortable, the admins will take action.

So, that said, if someone wishes to make a post like this in the future, it may be wise to run it past one of the admins.  On the mailing list, Kevin and I are the admins (we're looking for others ;).  In IRC, just ask (we're not all opped all the time).  We'd be glad to help you tune your message to minimize disruption of the community and maximize the achieving of your goals.

Thank you,

Josh More | Senior Security Consultant - CISSP, GIAC-GSLC Gold, GIAC-GCIH
Alliance Technologies | www.AllianceTechnologies.net<http://www.AllianceTechnologies.net>
400 Locust St., Suite 840 | Des Moines, IA 50309
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________________________________
From: cialug-bounces at cialug.org [cialug-bounces at cialug.org] on behalf of Brian Wood [woodbrian77 at gmail.com]
Sent: Saturday, March 05, 2011 12:17
To: cialug at cialug.org
Subject: [Cialug] A little something for everyone


I'm looking to partner with G-dly people willing to use the
C++ Middleware Writer -- an on line code generator that
writes C++ marshalling code based on high-level user input.
In exchange for using the C++ Middleware Writer, I'll donate
18 hours/week for six months to their project.  If you aren't
an orthodox Jew or pro-life Christian, you can still get in on
the action.  If you refer someone to me for this, I'll pay you
$150/month for the first four months I work with them.

--
Brian Wood
Ebenezer Enterprises
http://webEbenezer.net
(651) 251-9384


"And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season
we shall reap if we do not lose heart.  Therefore, as we have
opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of
the household of faith."  Galatians 6:9-11


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