Answering Josef

After Komas class, Josef asked me something irritating:
You are fond of open source so much and always suggesting (quite like enforcing) people to use open source. Actually, what have you already done within open source project. Have you made something for open source, coz' if you do, then you can impress people to do that. You must publish that to convince many people.
Before all the explanation I'd like to state something: I don't like doing something for the sake of publicity, but this question insist me to do publicity of my works.

Ok. Let me write down my finding about general things that become a background for my works.
  1. Indonesia is a country that always under invasion of other nations.
  2. Consumerism is high in every aspect and low nationalism affecting this nation.
  3. Lower education in this nation have bring people to act of corruption, poverty, and other injustice act. Furthermore, it makes people doesn't think in long term.
  4. People from Indonesia usually prefer other nation's product to our own, because of the #3 reason.
  5. We are become dependent to other nation because #4.
  6. Thus, #1.
There are other reasons but those may harmful to me to be published here. But, here's the point:
There is no such thing as free lunch
I firstly hear that not from one of lecturer, but from one of the government's employee who make testimonial about funding aid from other nations that must be compensate with government regulations that benefit to the aiding nations.

I'm also thankful to one of the representatives of Microsoft Indonesia that make a presentation in Fasilkom. That man, the India guy, start presentation of a product, and then, with very..very nice and polite tone, my chief of student council ask to that man about they may helped us to fund seminars (become a sponsor). But, arrogantly that man answered that question with no. The important point stated by him:
We don't help seminars, because it is not profitable. If you have something more profitable, than you would be recruited to do your research in Microsoft and if you're genious enough, than you would be placed in Microsoft to do your things.
I'm not being racist here, and I don't hate Microsoft, for I thank Bill Gates to introduce me to the technology. The point is that it was shock me a lot about the point of our bargaining power, our pride, and how we are to be used as a worker, not an associate.

How's that? Because we don't have any potential productive reason to be counted.

So, in my conclusion, we must find alternatives so that we can be in a better position.

In my search for alternatives, I see the potential of open source projects as our potential productive reason to be counted. This is the benefit of open source:
  1. It is free and people can do research about it. One may tweak it, distribute it, study the source code, use it as basis, and importantly use it.
  2. It has an impressive ability to create communities. This is important in order to make more people understand technologies. This is also useful to promote people to do more research because the nature of people of being a social being. (People tend to do more things in a group than in solitude)
  3. Many of these already exist projects are complied with our ICT demand. So, why reinventing the wheel? Like an antibug commercial said: If there exists better, why higher cost?
There are problems to implement open source: (I pick three the most important)
  1. Indonesian people lazy to study due to their consumerism mind.
  2. Indonesian people doesn't appreciate as high as other great nations toward research. Indonesian people always think right here right now, never thought of what would happen in the future.
  3. Indonesian people have low intention to up-to-date with recent technologies (NOT PRODUCTS).
So, in order to defeat that, I formulated a roadmap to overcome the challenge and takes this nation into better respect.
  1. To overcome dependency toward propriatery product, we must introduce potential products of open source. In this stage, we must provide support to help people migrating from propriatery.After enough people migrating, there will be good supportive communities.
  2. Because of the openness nature of open source, many people will be able to customised their open source softwares. It will lead into contributing community. (Community that contribute)
  3. Time in experiencing the open source software will lead people to do their own projects. Many will developing open softwares and let it be distributely freely among communities and get good feedback. In this stage, there would be a competitive company that use a business model like My SQL AB, Redhat, and other open source vendor: They supply product and get paid from support fees.
  4. Now, here is the challenging one, and I like this stage although I may not taste this stage (not in my time, I think). People will try creating alternatives. So, in this stage, we will have our own Operating System! This is important, because linux is only temporary. There are legal issues in linux which right now would be unwise if a corporate claim it's legal right toward this uprising star. But, in case someone in a near future got his/her head cranky and start playing stupid, we are ready to move on. Furthermore, there are limitations that all OS that exist right now.
I know, if we succeed in stage #1, we will have enough bargain power. In stage #2, people will realising how great is intellectual rights and tend to respect them. In stage #3, propriatery software developer will think twice and have more persuasive bargain. Last, in stage #4 this nation will be counted in G9 (G7+Japan+Indonesia). In this stage, industries are merging in a consortium to approve that technology. Many will benefit in cost reduction and many industry are created.

Q: Where are we right now?
A: We are in stage #1.

Q: What are contributes from me?
A: If you see the forum, I'm always answering people that seek help using linux (never say RTFM). I explore open softwares (from 3D into web), and I make use of it and show people how good it can get. I promote linux by studying how eye candy it can be but still not to be memory eater and stable. What is my contibution right now is promoting open source projects.

Q: What are the result?
A: Today, more people using open source, though it is not by my work alone (and I thank that there are others that concern)

Q: What next of my plan?
A: I'm trying to have a community that willing to do hacking. First, we may create our own theme based on other theme and build customised version of projects. I have studied Linux From Scratch and found it resourceful to study and easy to follow and develop. I'm also interested in E-17 project, it could be next great desktop environment and it is in early development.

So, all that I can contribute right now is trying to get people out of their miserable consumerism mind and from the invasion of their right to select what good from them.

Is my answer satisfy you, Josef?

Comments

  1. Anonymous11:46 AM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hm... I disagree about this statement

    "Indonesia is a country that always under invasion of other nations."

    because we WERE invading East Timor back then, causing so much lost there. At least most of the world think so =))

    Second, I don't think using open source will definitely be the answer of the problem. it's not about the source, or free, or about piracy, we CAN also produce things using propietary software, you know.

    It's only about habit and prosperity (and I think prosperity is the keyword here). How can you think of developing technology while your stomach growls in hunger? And how can you think to use open source projects while most of the job vacancy in Indonesia mention "able to work in .NET environment" or "must have adequate knowledge in VB, M$ SQL Server" or even "posses knowledge in using M$ Office"?

    Third, research needs money. Who will spend the money to do research?
    Do you able to fund everyone? What about your own stomach then?

    But above it all,
    GO JP GO!!! =D

    ~upsLagiPuasa =P
    ~gotAnythingElse,let'sDiscuss =D

    ReplyDelete
  3. #Ramot:
    Sadly your opinian are true, so what about it?

    It's a circular thing:

    1-> People get used with piracy.

    2-> Investment on training new system is high. So, companies get used with M$ and try to get employee capable of old system.

    3-> People see that and learn only what current companies demand.

    4-> And then people comin' into the company and get used with M$. After a while new system must be build, creating a *new* system from M$ technology.

    5-> Years passed by, go #2

    Cool isn't how smart people invade you without you notice and when you do it's too late.

    Developing proprietary s/w is useless nowadays, people still doesn't obey intellectual rights. While with open source, more community can be made out and people get interested to join, and the rest goes within the story.

    Research is money. It's all about that bloody green things isn't?

    Well, if that's the case, see #3 on general background.

    Money, see #1 and #3 my search for alternatives. It's cheapest research.

    Furthermore, if one enjoys losing nationality, enjoys to become underdog, have no matter when other nation is dictating the country. Then stop reading my Answering Josef article, which not much difference like a garbage to you.

    A waste of time if I may say.

    If you don't think for the future (the long one, not in 4 or 5 years), this thing is a crap to you.

    A waste of time if I may say.
    -----------------------

    A waste of time if I may say.
    A waste of life if I may say.

    Enjoy your life.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Koq jadi pada pake Inglish wakaka :D Ahh.. foreign intervention... with strings attached, not to mention pressures and other icky-icky-nasty parts :p

    ReplyDelete
  5. #zaq:
    In komas class we must speak in English, except when with Mr. Alex Rusli in Kominfo. ;P

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous7:52 PM

    I already read some articles about future economic sets and yes there are a lot of experts said that OpenSource will become the next economic world :)

    So, kita mo buat apa nih JP?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous5:32 PM

    sayangnya bahasa inggris semua yang ilmiah, jadi males baca

    ReplyDelete
  8. @anon:
    Maaf, itulah makanya pentingnya FOSS. Untuk menghancurkan pemikiran malas yang tidak mau belajar seperti Anda.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular Posts