Re: [libreplanet-discuss] What the free software community needs more than programs...

[Paul Brown]

On Sunday, 5 June 2016 09:04:59 CEST Fabio Pesari wrote:
> http://www.ocsmag.com/2016/05/28/free-software-artists-and-their-tools-part-> 
> i-david-revoy-krita/
> 
> http://www.ocsmag.com/2016/05/31/free-software-artists-and-their-tools-part-> 
> ii-evelyne-schulz-gimp/
> 
> ...is professionals from various fields (especially outside programming)
> sharing their positive experiences with free software! We see a lot of
> people on the Internet dissing programs like GIMP, LibreOffice and
> GNU/Linux itself without offering any valid insights, but there are
> plenty of people using it successfully in their careers.
> 
> Showing finished, professional and high-quality products made with free
> software is undoubtedly the best way to convince people to try it.

Exactly. These couple of weeks I am targeting designers, but I have also 
targeted primary and secondary teachers and educational institutions, albeit 
briefly (more to come at some point), in 

http://www.ocsmag.com/2016/04/04/mining-for-education/

And tried to do the same with videographers in 

http://www.ocsmag.com/2015/12/22/the-video-editing-challenge-part-i-kdenlive/

http://www.ocsmag.com/2016/01/03/the-video-editing-challenge-part-ii-natron/

http://www.ocsmag.com/2016/01/21/the-video-editing-challenge-part-iii-blender/

Although I am not sure of how successful I was with that series, since I am 
not a videographer myself.

This last series was actually in response to something an acquaintance 
insisted on, to wit, that the GNU/Linux ecosystem lacked good video-editing 
software. I set out to prove him wrong.

> We
> already know free software is used in countless products, but
> non-activists rarely speak about it openly.
> 
> Of course, this means showcasing finished products that aren't
> necessarily free themselves, but I think the positive aspects outweigh
> the negative ones. I really hope OCS-Mag's initiative will continue and
> that more people will adhere to it - programs like Blender, Audacity,
> GNU Octave and Ardour have plenty of pro users which could use an interview!
> 
> Anyone out there has anything to share right now?

Thanks for this Fabio. It is good to see that this is provoking a discussion. 
It would be even better to see the Free Software community shift focus, 
not necessarily away from developers, essential as they are, but at least to 
be more inclusive of end users and what they do with the software.

Cheers

Paul
-- 
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