I’ve recently taken up a role as a support volunteer on the freenode IRC network, which involves sitting on the list of staff that appears when users type /stats p and answering queries. A lot of stuff is questions that I can answer from my own knowledge of the network and the way it works (which is quite a bit as I have spent time learning about it); other things are requests for intervention which I then channel through the appropriate channels. I’m essentially a liason for users of the network to ensure that whatever it is they want doing is done, eventually.

This brings me into contact with lots of open source and community driven projects. For those who arn’t aware, open source means software that can be changed and improved by any programmer, whereas closed source software is effectively read only to anyone but the original people that wrote it. This means that open source software is (usually) a community effort, with many projects around the world churning out very high quality stuff. It’s a phenomenon that is worrying bigger companies and is starting to reach the news - most of the web runs on open source-driven servers. freenode is designed to be a safe haven for communication between people working on the projects in order to get things done more effectively. There are many important projects using it.

I originally came to the network for it’s Wikipedia channels, as being open knowledge and using open source software to power the site they fit in. Now, SilentFlame has a registration as a group that is a service to the community rather than an actual project, due to the charitable nature of it and the fact that service is put above profit. So, as I see the great work being put into all these great pieces of software, I question where my energy goes into and where it should. I find myself coming to the conclusion again and again that Wikimedia is a worthwhile cause because it hits a wider audience and is more worthwhile than developing a distribution of Linux. So I see us as working towards a goal that will help everyone. That’s my thoughts right now, but I’d be interested in hearing yours - many people have very negative viewpoints on the wiki concept.

I’m happy that I’ve written this down. It makes me more confident about the choice I have made.