The best role models for any cause, open source or otherwise, are people you would admire even if they didn’t support your cause. In other words, your support of open source will be more meaningful if you strive to be a good person.
People who care deeply about open source often ask themselves the question, “How can I become a better open source advocate?” That’s an interesting question, to be sure, but the answer might not take you far. Consider asking yourself a more probing question: “How can I become a better human being?”
To my mind, the world does not need better open source advocates. What the world needs is better cellists who love open source, better choreographers who love open source, better architects, city planners, animators, schoolteachers farmers, designers, writers, filmmakers, doctors, nurses, legislators and school superintendents who love open source. By becoming a better human being, you advance the cause of open source.
For the past 10 years, Phil has been working at a public library in the Washington D.C.-area, helping youth and adults use the 28 public Linux stations the library offers seven days a week. He also writes for MAKE magazine, Opensource.com and TechSoup Libraries. Suggest videos by contacting Phil on Twitter or at pshapiro@his.com.
The meeting came about because Reglue’s booth was right across the aisle from OpenShot’s booth. and their display caught my eye immediately. I’ve worked with many video editing tools over the years, and frankly, I’ve usually ended up paying someone to do the work for me because I found the level of complexity and the learning curve to be insurmountable. So being placed this closely to the OpenShot Studios booth rang out as a golden opportunity, which indeed it was.
