[adrian.mowrey at gmail.com: Hello,]

[Jordan Erickson]

Scott Balneaves wrote:
> On Fri, Oct 17, 2008 at 01:05:56PM -0500, Scott Balneaves wrote:
>
>   
>> When I was saying "we," I was referring to the Edubuntu community. I wanted
>> the Edubuntu community to try and take "my" idea farther.
>>     
>
> The best way to lead is from the front.  I think if you want these ideas to go
> forward, you need to be spearheading them.  Since is is "Your" idea, then "You"
> need to work on it, and the rest of us can pitch in where we can.
>   
*snip*

This is probably the one thing that keeps even the best ideas at bay - 
individual motivation to follow through and make your idea a reality. To 
be the one to take the lead in your idea, to collaborate with those 
willing to help in the community, but to *be* the leader with your vision.

I used to be the one to say "Linux/Ubuntu/etc. NEEDS Feature X". I would 
post my idea to a list, or even file a bug report, which I thought (at 
the time) was plenty work on my part. I guess I just thought that the 
geniuses that create and maintain the codebase would whip it up and 
shoot me a reply, saying "Done!"  How naive I was.

I now, after as much community involvement as I have had so far (which 
still is very little compared to the countless hours the real developers 
and other near full-time contributors have put in for the sake of us 
all) understand that if I want something to happen, I need to be the one 
to take the initiative and make it happen. That doesn't mean I have to 
be a programmer. It means I have to be the one MOST involved with making 
sure my idea comes to fruition. Guidance, a clear battle plan, and 
constant involvement with the process is what the community needs when 
an idea is presented. THIS IS WORK, don't deny it, and you most likely 
won't get paid for it. But guess what - the value incurred by a truly 
ingenious project becoming a reality is more than enough payback for the 
work that went into it... especially when you start to see others using 
it, thanking you for it, and even making it better.

This is what community is about.


Cheers,
Jordan/Lns