Open Source Software (OSS) - Let's Show The Love

Why community matters for the future of software talent, products and the industry as a whole

We all love those stand up guys who volunteer first, arrive early and are last to leave from meetups, collaborations and indeed anything software related. They are sharing the passion, they are showing the love!! This is the good side of software as defined by the people within the industry who seek a better world through software using their passion to drive progress in an impressive way.

These channels of passion ultimately lead to the open source movement and in recent years have transformed the industry into a collaborative landscape where more and more software professionals are building their own products. They are contributing to more and more engineering led projects that are “pure” software in terms of process and culture. Many in established business are not comfortable with this as the threat of disruption is ever present when you have a collaboration of highly skilled software professionals in a room focused on a single problem. This may in part arise from the need for management ‘control’ (v ‘influence’) in allot of company cultures. This has often caused culture clashes between software professionals and management trying to stamp a traditional leadership style on a team leading to resistance and culture clashes to boot. It’s my view that this lack of understanding coupled with passion for software is one of the elements that has fuelled the transition to the open source model where software professionals freely collaborate over common problems they are passionate about leading to real world solutions that often carry commercial value.

So, with the rise of Web 2.0, the startup industry and the freemium model for tech companies in full swing, there are some highly profitable businesses out there that have their origins in the open source movement and prove the open source paradigm of collaboration does work turning more and more its detractors into supporters as time passes. Since the “OSS” train has left the station, we all should not forget where we are and where we come from when it comes to the open source movement. We should show the love in OSS through the following:

• Enable a better quality of life with a life long commitment to the open source movement and the real world problems it solves
• Widen scope from the selective and often poorly structured curriculum of education, which produces newly minted software developers and engineers. This should be done by providing entry points into software through community education free of charge for those aspiring to be software professionals
• Provide continuous learning and development for established software professionals in upgraded and newly released products via community learning and education
• Provide facilities free of charge to identified open source community groups that engage in community education and learning for new as well as established software professionals
• Understand what actually makes a good software professional and identify these personalities upon entry into a the community education network ergo the community will retain and develop such individuals as part of OSS succession planning.
• Work with industry under a common mission statement on what makes for a successful partnership with the open source software movement

What makes it all happen? I think it's simply passionate software professionals who by nature, not by training or experience care deeply about they do and want their skills to make a difference in the world. The more we actively show the love, the bigger the impact we have as a community. If we draw from our past and not let our past draw from us, we can make a better future that allows the OSS movement to take its rightful and sustainable place in the world today as the premiere software partner to business and society as a whole.

About the author: John Mulhall is a Community Manager and newly Minted Software Developer. John is also a committed blogger and from February 2016 onwards, will be publishing blogs every second week on topics around Technology, Leadership and Sustainable Capitalism.

Sources/Credits:

Pics;

https://stocksnap.io/photo/W8P1FJHOZ8

www.linkedin.com

www.blog.worldlabel.com

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Gifted with hope… The reward of the Continuous Learner

Learning becomes a vocation in life for those who truly embrace it finding… the value of passion, understanding and purpose

When at school, my main aim was always the gate, to get home in the evening, the summer holidays and of course for my ‘education’ to be ‘over’! When I finally completed my secondary education, I was relieved it was all over and was ready to be an adult...woohoo.. I’m all “grown up!” <<sigh>> Anyway, I eventually become a real adult and with it came maturity and perspective. The giddy hum of the teenage idling mind became a curious, passionate and purposeful drive to find out more about my place in the world and what my passion is... my “raison d’etre” if you will.  After the Military and Financial Management, I found a deep passion for Technology and with it a natural curiously for how things worked. If I had only connected with this sooner???

The irony of wasting time on things we think others want us to do and then struck for time chasing our true passions and place in life is nothing new. It’s something we all feel and the opportunity cost can weigh on us in an unfair manner when we eventually come to terms with it. At that point, we always look back on that part of our lives with the clarity of hindsight connecting the dots accurately.  Needless to say, it’s not so easy to be that wise in the moment ergo the challenge life has laid out for us on our path is duly set. So, how do we overcome this conundrum and find our passion in what we do before it’s too late?

After considering this at length, I have come to some realisations as follows:

• It’s never too late to find your passion and start again. If you find your passion, remember it’s a key ingredient to your happiness.
• Society may expect a certain standard, if its your path to rewrite the book of standards, make sure it’s a good read and you fit into your own narrative.
• For every problem, there is a solution. As Lao Tzu said “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”. Analyse and develop a step by step plan to change career and/or occupation and/or lifestyle based on passion, ability and real interests.
• Learn to love the world you’re living in. Be bold and curious about the world and harness your remaining time in it to become richer in character for being here. It’s not enough to skirt past life hoping no-one will see you and/or will not like you... embrace your passion and the world around you with both arms. Without the negative, you can not really live in the positive. 

 If we can do that, then the tenants of continuous learning become very relevant and useful indeed. What might once have seemed like a hostile concept becomes a cherished companion on life’s journey lighting up our minds and hearts with understanding along the way. If I was to say anything on continuous learning, it is that the more I learn, the less I know. Its that fascination with the world around me that drives my passion, purpose and contentment becoming a little wiser and happier at the end of every day when I think of lessons learnt, both good and bad that have been visited upon me during the day. When all's said and one, I can say... “hmmm that was a good day”. Not a bad ending for the bad days and only getting better from there… What do you think? Can understanding lighten your load along life’s path? Let me know what you think by leaving a comment…

Sources/Credits:

Pics;

www.communication4m.blogspot.com

www.digitalpromise.org

https://stocksnap.io/photo/1YE1LLNXGB

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