[wplug] Advocacy vs. Fanaticism

[JW]

Well written

Thanks Evan!

- Joe





At 03:15 PM 7/18/2001 -0400, you wrote:
>Fellow WPLUGgers:
>
>While browsing through the discussion on Slashdot regarding CmdrTaco's
>suprisingly sane "essay"
>(http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=01/07/18/1445233&mode=nested)
>entitled "Why Linux Won't Ever Be Mainstream" I saw a link posted to
>"Real Live Trolling - On the South Shore Railroad..."
>(http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/opinions/3589/1/)
>
>I pulled what I believe to be a very valuable and insightful point
>from this LinuxPlanet article: Linux advocacy is not about shouting
>"LINUX RULES, WINDOWS SUCKS!" or even the slightly more enlightened
>"Linux is better than Windows, so there." Linux advocacy, to break
>down the word "advocat" into its Latin roots, literally means "to
>speak to Linux." Advocating Linux isn't about trashing Microsoft or
>Adobe or HP; it's about telling people what Linux does and why it does
>it so well.
>
>As I write this I'm reminded of that time so long ago when I had first
>joined the mailing list and was giving a speech to the ProPC Users'
>Group in Pittsburgh. Alex Landefeld had simply instructed the
>presenters to explain what they used Linux for and why they used
>it. When I presented to all those strange faces that night, I didn't
>tell them that I thought Microsoft should be burned to the ground or
>that I had serious concerns regarding Bill Gates' presence of
>genetalia. Furthermore, those thoughts never crossed my mind. I simply
>did what I was asked to do: advocate Linux by describing my
>experiences with it. When I was done with my speech, I was innundated
>with questions. Towards the end of the meeting, I talked with many
>people who were really, truly interested in what Linux was all
>about. I can almost guarantee that the response I received that night
>would have been far less positive, if not negative, if I had acted
>like the two "fanatics" that the author of the LinuxPlanet piece met
>on his train ride.
>
>I'm not going to be Saint DiBiase and pretend that I've never resorted
>to some degree of fanaticism. It is worth it for all of us, however,
>to keep in mind what advocacy really means. The next time your
>company's NT server crashes, pause a minute before sending off that
>company-wide email proclaiming, "NT SUX0RS AND BILLY G IS LINUS'
>LAPDOG," consider instead sending a well-reasoned, fact-filled message
>to whomever is in charge of making your server OS decisions.
>
>Or, more succinctly, to quote the LinuxPlanet article's author: "'Your
>hearts may be in the right place, but the attitude has got to
>change. Or no one's going to want to listen to you at all.'"
>
>-Evan
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