As part of my building and securing the next generation of wireless technologies I'm putting together aFreeRADIUS authentication system for all WiMAX devices. This is a big deal on many levels and for many reasons. Most importantly, it is a result of our campaign with other WiMAX Forum people to get a private key and certificate installed on all WiMAX devices. From a security perspective, this is one of the most important things to happen in wireless technologies since the SIM card and HLR in GSM.
Well, as I was building this lab FreeRADIUS I ran into a problem. Frustrated and unable to find the solution, I turned to the email group that the developer of FreeRADIUS has. The conversation went like this:
Me: My installation seems to be missing a file. That file is in other installations that are done this other way, but not mine. Where is the file supposed to come from?
Person A: Why are you so stupid as to not know where that file is? Why are you bugging me with this stupid thing? Don't you know how to read the "./configure" output? I suppose I could bring myself to tell you that you are going to need software X in order for it to work.
Me: Of course I know about the "./configure" and all it told me was that the file wasn't made. My question is "where is the file *supposed* to be?" Fine, software X needs to be there.
(not stated: why the hell don't you tell us that software X is a requirement in the first place?)
Person B: Don't be mean to person A, he's a god, you are shit. You asked your question in a stupid way.
(not stated: Person A, I'm your bitch, please love me)
Me:<;no reply--I've got work to do>
When I ran into another issue with this software, I didn't even bother asking. I found another deficiency in his package and fixed it myself.
What caught my mind about this, besides general annoyance, is a memory of the 80's movie "Revenge of the Nerds." It's a classic tale of the nerdy underdogs beating the big, bad, and dumb jocks. What makes the nerds appealing is a combination of their cleverness and their willingness to embrace outsiders. The sad reality, as illustrated in the modern nerd-world of "open source" software is that these people are more arrogant and exclusionary than any hollywood jock could be. The nerds got revenge, then went on a rampage and are now the very establishment they hate.
My encounter with the FreeRADIUS people is not unique. All around the world business-types are demanding that their technology departments reduce costs, so technologists turn to free software, built on this ideal of "by the people, for the people, and *not* Microsoft." But their software is as buggy as anything made by the Gates crew and their support is every bit as un-helpful while being rude to boot.
Try to reach Microsoft hotline for a bug resolution and you will see that the reality is somewhere else. I think that the conclusion that cost cutting has somehow pushed the corporate guys to go for open source is wrong. Indeed, you need to think about the start of this process. Look, at some point of time, there had to be a substantial open source community for corporate guys, computer departement chiefs, etc. to be able to use it. It did not come out from nowhere, just as the cost cutting has started, as you postulate.
The open source community has been there now for quite as long as there is software. Universities and all kinds of public organizations, supported by private initiatives and/or individualists have always been developing and sharing code. It is even more important in the CS, where algorithms need to be conceived, but also proven and tested. The contribution to the human wealth is without any doubt here. And these guys obviously do not have any contracts with you personally. They are not obliged to provide you any answer whatsoever.
The reason for that is that, in terms of commerce, open source projects are *not* products, as you seem to suppose. There is a clear definition of a product, and the most open source utilities are not. Some of them are available as products and as open source projects. I guess you can ask for support, if you buy it as a product.
Now, you are supposing that you should get your support from a non-commercial organization just as you would have expected it from a commercial organization. But there are two problems with that: 1. the commercial organizations do not easily provide you good support. Try Cisco, Microsoft or somebody else. Their customer base is so big that they only concentrate on big contracts. 2. if you want to have help from somebody whom you already owe something by using code he has written in hours of his free time, well, try to respect this person by playing by his rules. Or: do not use it, use something else.
But stop complaining about people giving you correct answers in a way that differs from a "Hello siiiiirrr, what can I do for you today, please hold a line for the next 35 minutes, I will be with you in a moment, siiiiiiirrrr".
I hardly think Jeffrey is saying that open source is new. It is definitely being used more often by corporations than it was in the past. The fact that my company is switching to Ubuntu from MS is a testament to that fact. I have worked in the computer industry for 17 years at many different businesses, and trust me, this is a big shift in corporate technical purchases.
I am ignoring your argument on semantics... I'm not sure that you have the authority to tell us all to use words in only the way you think they should be used.
And he is not asking for more support: he is asking for a polite conversation. Which, you have very ably demonstrated, seems to be hard to come by.
As a particularly unsociable person myself, it amazes me that some people out there continue to be so incredibly rude and horrible when just talking to someone who has a beginner's question. If you don't want to help them, then don't. But if you want your product to be used, then be nice and take the time to talk to the people taking THEIR time to learn your product. You don't get put on a pedestal for your wonderful contributions to humanity by just throwing your work out into the ether and expecting us all to understand it just as it is.
I'm not sure what blog he was responding to, but it sure as hell wasn't this one. At what point do I say "use Microsoft"? I live in a Unix world, I use, and occasionally help develop, open source software, I'm criticizing that world from within.
The people who maintain open source software aren't just doing it out of the goodness of their hearts. They have immense egos and want to be reveared and remembered and like pre-revolution French aristocracy, they can be real bastards to people who bore them. And I don't say any of that with malice--*I* want to be reveared and *I* can be a real bastard to people who bore me.
The love/hate relationship we all have with adoration is not neatly summed up by bad definitions of what a "product" is and bitching about Microsoft. It is, however, perfectly articulated in the sublime musings of my humble blog.
How funny. I just had an e-mail exchange with the same guy. He calls his style "blunt", not insulting, but to me it's just cryptic. It's as if he takes offense to questions, but if he hates it so much why is he there personally and promptly answering questions? If he hates questions, why are the docs sooo bad? If he wants to help people, why are his answers sooo incomplete? I'm trying to use the scraps he throws me, and I'm experimenting, but it's been such a needless waste of both our time.
Nevertheless, freeradius rocks, and I recognize I'm in his debt, so I try to be thorough and report back something useful. If he ignores me, I'll know I failed.
I'm sure glad I didn't have to deal with a groupee, though!
I've since met this guy in person, worked with him a bit on a project. I think he's so focused on his world that he forgets that there are other worlds out there besides FreeRADIUS.
People aren't "stupid" for not knowing the intricacies of a particular software suite. The people who develop this software just can't see that. But when they encounter outsiders the problem is what obligation do they have to help? If they wanted money it would be easy to workout. But they want praise for their genius and that's a harder deal to make.
I'm still a big fan of freeradius, but not a big fan of insular worlds where outsiders are derided.