[wplug] Anyone else read the NetBSD article?

[Greg Simkins]

> Greg Simkins wrote:
>
>> Without ownership, who will champion the product?
>

Brandon Poyner wrote:
> The community will, or so the theory goes.  The community decides what
> products matter.  If people like the project but don't like the
> leadership or direction they can feel free to fork off their own
> version.  That's exactly how OpenBSD and DragonflyBSD came into being.
> Projects have to stand on their own or they quickly become irrelevant.



I mean "ownership" in both the literal and figurative sense.  In the 
referenced article, Mr. Hannon talks about the need for strong leadership to 
ensure success of an open source project.  Such leadership and committment, 
whether distributed among a dedicated group ("community") or provided by an 
individual is often called "ownership".  The writer seems to hold up Linux 
as a model of strong leadership.  Is it not true that Linus Torvalds 
literally owns the rights to the license and therefore is free to provide 
the leadership that he also willing to provide?

Mr. Hannon seems willing to provide the needed leadership, but has been 
stripped of ownership.  See - it can happen in Open Source too.  I wish him 
well in restructuring his project with committed volunteers that can take 
ownership and pride in a successful project.

I am a strong believer in the free market and see the freedom to join 
together with likeminded volunteers to provide a public service is a key 
part of the free market of ideas and products.  I greatly value my 
association with WPLUG because I receive valuable knowledge at a reasonable 
price plus I enjoy networking with others interested in learning more about 
computers.  Most commercially offered courses are priced way beyond my means 
and don't actually provide value equal to their tuition.  Thus I am willing 
to support WPLUG however I can - because it benefits me.  I guess I am 
beginning to feel some ownership in this little organization!

Greg