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Re: Microsoft against "potentially viral" open source software
Subject:Re: Microsoft against "potentially viral" open source software From:Bruce Byfield <bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 26 Jun 2001 13:51:11 -0700
"Gilger.John" wrote:
>
> It seems to me that Linux and other Open Source projects are achieving
> their goals. The Goliath of Redmond wouldn't be whining and complaining
> if the Open Source guys and gals weren't hitting the target. <VBG>
I've said it once, and I'll said it again: open source and free software
should be very interesting for tech-writers for several reasons:
1.) If you're a new writer, you can build a respectable portfolio by
volunteering your services.
2.) Documentation hasn't been much of a concern in these movements until
the last couple of years. As a result, an experienced tech-writer can
get recognition that would never be forthcoming in most fields. For
example, I now have two pages of kudos for my last manual in my
portfolio.
3.) Because open source and free software products are so hungry for
documentation, you can choose all sorts of interesting projects - the
free equivalent of products that very few of us ever have a chance to
work on.
4.) Although there's a Free Documentation License, often documentation
is part of the added value with which companies make their money. That
means that the documentation becomes the company product (and so does
training and tech-support, both areas where writers can help) instead of
the software. The changes in status can be interesting.
5.) Open source or free software geeks are often better to work with
than the garden variety geeks. They're often an elite, so they have less
to prove than ordinary geeks. They also have a cooperative ethos. For
both these reasons, they're unlikely to look down on tech-writers so
long as they pull their weight.
--
Bruce Byfield 604.421.7177 bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com
"I never had the chance to prove them wrong,
My time was short, the story long,
No, I never had the chance to prove them wrong,
It's always them who write the song."
- OysterBand, "Oxford Girl"
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