OS GUI

Last week after dinner, my wife commented to her nephew (who now lives with us), as we sat around the table, that she needed a glass of water. This did not surprise me, because it is normal for her to ask for something to drink after she has finished eating. After breakfast she usually wants a cup of tea; after lunch, she typically requests a glass of milk; and after dinner she usually asks for a glass of water. She does not drink while eating as I do. Instead, she take time to eat her meals while ensuring she chews each spoon, or bite full, more times than I care to say; so her request was no surprise to me and seemed quite normal. It was not so cut and dry for our nephew however. Instead, he replied, as is the common reply to almost any commands to children these days: Why? In fact, if you come into contact with any child from age one (and possibly younger) onwards to the late teens, you will no doubt hear the dreaded question, why? Maybe I should have asked why also, because the conclusion I came to from her asking for a glass of water was an incorrect one.

As it turned out, she had noticed that the vase that hold the flowering roses on the dinner table needed water. She was going to bring the water to the roses that I gave to her nearly two weeks earlier. Our nephew, on the other hand, had a different idea. After learning the purpose for the glass of water, instead of bringing the water to the roses, he would bring the roses to the water. So, with vase in hand, he slowly moved towards the kitchen faucet and began filling the vase with water -- much to the displeasure of my wife. You know how we adults can become at times. We usually want things done the way we would do it ourselves or are accustomed to seeing it done, and this was the situation my wife had found herself in -- the teenager was beginning to think independently, and wanted to do this his way; which can be interpreted as the easier way in his mind. Anyway, she gave him that look of displeasure that many of us have gotten from our parents at one time or another -- which is, eyes squinted and mouth turned to one side of the face. He paid no attention to this however, and continued doing the job the way he wanted to do it, then he said in a form of statement and question at the same time; "I didn't know flowers still needed water and could draw water without any roots?" He was surprised at how much water was gone from the vase in what seemed like a short while.

Well, I commented back that yes, plants still need water to help sustain their life while they are disconnected from the main root-bearing plant. They can live for a little, but will not grow even though they will bloom as in the case of these roses. Also, they will not live as long as plants, which have their roots buried in soil and have access to water. I further added, that there are exceptions to this, such as the water lily, which have no need for soil, but still have root which help them find a water source and is enough to help them grow. Lilies and other plants like it are exceptions however.

For the purpose of this text, I want to focus on plants and trees that cannot survive for any extended length of time without being connected to the main tree/plant that has root embedded in soil and which also have access to some water source.

No doubt, by now you have either seen where I am going with this, or you might be asking, "What does this have to do with software or the GNU/Linux community as a whole?" Well I will explain; only stay with me a little while.

To those who already get the direction of my writing and have concluded that this will be about money, I beg to differ with your conclusion; this is not just about money. Instead, it boils down to support in whatever form it can be offered. Everyone cannot give financially for one reason or another – of this, I am certain. They can give something however, and that is one of the very many good things about the GNU/Linux community and open source software in general. Certainly, there are software options (operating system and programs) available where the trading of finances is not required (OpenOffice.org, Mozilla/Thunderbird, theGIMP, etc.) -- just download, burn to CD (where applicable), install, and then run the software. There are also other options, which require a financial transaction first, before the user can gain access to a product; no doubt you are aware of a few. They offer neither an evaluation nor live-CD version of their product. Now, do they need water any less than the others? Well, maybe and maybe not. I will submit that they do however, but only in the form of quantity, which is to say they need water but one form might need more water than the other.

Let's use Red Hat Linux as an example, the most famous of all GNU/Linux distributions in our community. They have programmers who need to be watered. They have advertisement writers and agents who need to be watered and they have building maintenance personnel, in addition to other personnel, who must be watered to sustain their own individual trees – family or individual life in this case. If you doubt this, then ask Loki, Mandrake Linux, or the SCO group who is trying to get as much water as they possibly can and seemingly, by whatever means necessary; that is a different story however. No doubt, there are others but these are only a few of the GNU/Linux companies that come to mind first and which help to demonstrate, in my opinion, what happens to a company devoid of water.

On the other hand, there are projects that do not have any of the needs relative to Red Hat mentioned in the example above, which must be satisfied. All it takes is a "little bit" (defined as a little drop) of water to satisfy their needs. Some of these needs might be as simple as storage space to host their products or web site; just enough to get by each month is all they ask. It might also be help for maintenance of their in-house servers, so help with the electricity bill is all they need, or help with their broadband connection dues. But whatever the need, it must be understood that all projects, great and small, and I only speak concerning those within the GNU/Linux community, need water to survive.

Now, I know this is never a pleasant subject to read, and it is not pleasant to write either. It is not in religious circles. It is not in the business community especially with the various abuses that can be found in the news media of late. They range from California's financial issues to Enron, and the unethical dealings by people such as Martha Stewart and others. But it is a subject that must be visited, non-the less. Our community need water to survive.

For this reason, I have specifically chosen to use an all encompassing word such as water, to avoid focusing only on (the need for) finances within the GNU/Linux community. There is indeed that need, but it is not the only need and so I have tried to make this more about giving in general, as opposed to being about buying one company's product over another. I trust I have succeeded.

With that said, I hope you will not allow the actions of a few to deter you from giving or from expecting that the person responsible for overseeing your share will do the right thing and function as respectable and as honestly as possible. What I have found in my very short life thus far from dealing with human beings, is that the good usually outweighs the bad. That is to say, there are more people (I have found) who are trying to do the right thing in business and in their dealings with other human beings, than those who are trying to get whatever they can by whatever any means possible; usually by taking more than they deserve.

Well, what is this author suggesting?

I simply suggest, after hopefully making the point that a plant/tree need water to survive, that those who use open source or GNU/Linux software should not think it a strange thing when a company asks for water, in one form or another. Things are changing, all be it for the better in my opinion, so it should no longer come as a shock when a company asks for water in return for a few days/weeks/months or years hard labor. In fact, the first course of action should be to determine if the exchange is a worthy one; meaning that the purchaser should determine if the required water is equal to, if not better than the quality and functionality of, the product being traded. If so, then pay what is due and enjoy the choice that you have made. If not, then take it up with the company. But at a minimum, it should be understood that, most company or project in our community need water (in some form or another) to survive. As you then gain benefit from a particular program, operating system, or web site, the act of giving back freely in whatever form you are able to, should be second nature and come without the need to ask. In a perfect world, no doubt, there will be no need to ask or even for text such as this writing. But since we do not yet live in that promised perfect world, look for the opportunity to give, and respond accordingly.

If it is a web site, that you get news in one form or another from, such as PClinuxOnline.com, or NewsForge.com for example, then typically all it takes to help add water to their root is to click on one of the advertiser links on their site. Additionally, simply sending an email to the author of a particular text, letting him or her know your dislikes or that you agree with the author's conclusion, is usually enough as well. Encouragement, after all is free and only takes one word… thanks. If, on the other hand, you would rather give financial gifts, then look for the donate button first. If none is present, contact the owner. Incidentally, the same rule/suggestion applies to sites who host software that many of us benefit from day after day – KDE, Gnome, Jahshaka, and others come to mind.

Alternatively, online communities such as that which exists on mandrakeclub.com, www.linspire.com, to name a few, don't require much water either. Now, should you find yourself in need of a space to participate in, ie. offer some well needed water, then point and click your browser here, choose one nearest you and make your presence known. Typically they are free communities that ask little in return. There are exceptions however, such as MandrakeClub mentioned above. There is a cost involved to participate in the community, but not one so exorbitant that it will be a financial burden, in my opinion. There are other benefits as well. Still, periodically logging in and helping a community member is usually enough water that many of these sites need to grow and remain healthy plants in the garden, which is the GNU/Linux community. It really does not take a lot. Just a little drop will do.

Now go out and water a plant of your choosing.

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