Re: [GnomeMeeting-list] RE version

[Damien Sandras <dsandras seconix com>]

Le ven 15/11/2002 à 22:23, lambert Bernard a écrit :
> Well I will ask to email you give but my first mail begin with I  want 
> to use gnomemeeting
> 
> I have try Suse version which is very old and does'nt work with my config
> I update and gnome don't start
> 
> if i install netmeeting on windows, i wil call 15 min later ?
> 

Nothing prevents you from doing it... It is not my fault if you are
using Suse and if you are not able to solve your problems with gconf
which are not related to GnomeMeeting. 

Really, you think perhaps that you are doing something great telling
that you can install and make run Netmeeting in 15 minutes, but I think
it is a stupid remark, perhaps what we call a troll.... If you think
things can be improved, then patch them, and contribute back your
patches to Suse. If you are not able to use Linux, then use Windows,
perhaps it suits better your needs. But finally, I don't care at all if
you are using GnomeMeeting or Netmeeting. Your problem is not related to
GnomeMeeting, so please don't complain on this mailing list about it,
come back later when you have problems with GnomeMeeting itself. We
don't provide help about installing required libraries for GnomeMeeting.
All those libraries have a mailing list. If you can't install them, then
please mail those mailing lists. If you think it is easier on Windows, I
will tell you that "yes, it is" and you can go back under Windows.

Let me help you with the realities of open source software.

Open Source software is generally made available for no charge. There
are many reasons why individuals may do this and those are far better
described in the article "The Cathedral and the Bazaar" by Eric Raymond.


(There is a much more detailed version of this e-mail by the same person
at: http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html)


The central issue that I want to raise here is that means time spent on
it by programmers is donated" to the community, also for no cost. This
is in fact the "payment" that developers for using something that you
did not pay any real money for. As Robert Heinlein used to say
TANSTAAFL,
There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch!

So you have a problem or have discovered a bug. The correct thing to do
is report it on the mailing list. This may have one of several results:

(1)  It looks really simple and a "five minute" fix. Better yet the
person reporting the bug provides a fix. This will be done very quickly,
within a day or two.

(2)  It is deemed to be really important and directly affecting projects
that the contributing programmers are doing. Result: it gets fixed
really quickly, within days.

(3)  It looks interesting but does not affect current projects. Result:
it MIGHT get looked at one a week or a month. Depending on how busy the
contributing programmers are. You can usually get hints quickly on how
to fix the problem yourself.

(4)  It does not look interesting and it is has no affect on any
projects the contributing programmers might have going. Result: you
MIGHT get a response with a suggestion on how to fix it yourself. More
likely you will just get stony silence.

(5)  It does not look interesting and it is has no affect on any
existing projects, but you are willing to pay a commercial consulting
rate to get it fixed. Result: you will likely get someone to fix the
problem. But please note that real commercial consulting rates can be
easily $US100 per hour and often more. Just because a body of source
code is free does not mean the developers time is!


This might sound unfair. It certainly does not get your problem solved
easily. But the people who contribute to this project do need to eat.
They need to justify their time to their bosses. Some even have lives
(however small) outside of programming, and may not want to spend their
precious hours outside of earning a living to help some random
individuals problem.

The key to the system is that YOU GET THE SOURCE. That means if no one
is able, or willing, to help you, you CAN help your self. Just do not
expect when you get something for nothing, to get even more for nothing.

Apologies if you have found this condescending or offensive. It is not
intended that way, it is merely intended to inform people that do not
know how open source development is done, that the world is not an ideal
place.

-- 
  _
 (o-      SANDRAS Damien
 //\      
 v_/_     Check Out Gnome Meeting !
          http://www.gnomemeeting.org/