Business that do <<not come out of the closet>>
Opinion article, where the Free Software ecosystem is analyzed
Business that do <<not come out of the closet>>
Being in contact with competing companies and especially those that are more collaborative allows me to know more about the technologies they use to offer their products and services. It's Free Software, to a greater or lesser extent, they use Free Software, but not all of them say,"they don't want to come out of the closet", yet.
The Free Software ecosystem is very diverse. There are people who generate the code, they are the people who develop that software; others translate it and adapt it to the culture of each place, they are localization (l10n); there are also people who use and report the errors to improve it and subject it to different situations, it would be the team of quality; others are design people and make those graphs, icons, or drawings that use the software; and so many more people. In general they are people, individuals who meet periodically to make these important "stays" where they exchange their experiences, face and project the future of a tool for the simple motivation to do something better for the world and give it to them freely.
They share knowledge and ask for nothing in return.
This ecosystem also has its needs, it is people who eat, some have families and above all it get aroused by Free Software and would love to live from it. They're people who love what they do. They are called "anti-system" because they do not understand the standard capitalist world....
There are two things that unite exploiters companies and the Free Software Community: source code and money. Of course, each with an antagonistic approach but after all, both need them to survive.
The exploiting companies, those that use the code and don't recognize it, have negative karma, they don't contribute anything to the Community but they profit from Free Software (so that later they say it is free). This Community in turn sins of hippie and doing things for the "common good" when it should be more demanding with the use made of its developments.
Companies are the ones that generate wealth, but this must be well directed towards the Free Software Community that generates the resources that are exploited.
How to improve the karma of companies? In many ways. From simply sponsoring Free Software events (not just Open Source) to hiring those community people who love the selfless work they do. Talent is scarce and demand is very high. Having those people on your computer who enjoy what they do is the best gift you can give to the Free Software Community.
Carlos Rodríguez García Presidente de AGASOL presidencia@agasol.gal
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