Comments on: Getting Out of the Arabic Mediocrity Loop http://djihed.com/uncategorized/getting-out-of-the-arabic-mediocrity-loop Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:27:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.4 by: elkahayam http://djihed.com/uncategorized/getting-out-of-the-arabic-mediocrity-loop#comment-4159 Mon, 11 Dec 2006 16:23:55 +0000 http://djihed.com/uncategorized/getting-out-of-the-arabic-mediocrity-loop#comment-4159 I totally agree with your analysis. However, i think that the problem come from the "community" concept. There is no strong IT arabic community on the Net, and the little communities that exists are as you you point it out have a selfish opinion, or don't want to know what's going on the arabic Web, or they import the dictatorship on the Internet. I think that construction of community is very delicate. I totally agree with your analysis. However, i think that the problem come from the “community” concept. There is no strong IT arabic community on the Net, and the little communities that exists are as you you point it out have a selfish opinion, or don’t want to know what’s going on the arabic Web, or they import the dictatorship on the Internet.

I think that construction of community is very delicate.

]]> by: Djihed http://djihed.com/uncategorized/getting-out-of-the-arabic-mediocrity-loop#comment-3686 Fri, 01 Dec 2006 14:21:51 +0000 http://djihed.com/uncategorized/getting-out-of-the-arabic-mediocrity-loop#comment-3686 Kevin, It's sad that the arabic FOSS movement in the ME is far from being a community. The issue is that the small groups here and there have yet to "grow up" and recognise the need for each other and the endless possibilities of cooperation. In short, everyone wants to get the label of the hero who saves Arabic technology. Politically, you can say that FLOSS is rather more acceptable, and is believed to be so to a certain degree in the ME. Proprietary software is hated more because of the big western corporatios who produce it more than because of its incompetency. Thus, FLOSS rather represents an elegant escape from the "evil western" propreitary solutions, as it is not owned by any official entity. Kevin,

It’s sad that the arabic FOSS movement in the ME is far from being a community. The issue is that the small groups here and there have yet to “grow up” and recognise the need for each other and the endless possibilities of cooperation. In short, everyone wants to get the label of the hero who saves Arabic technology.

Politically, you can say that FLOSS is rather more acceptable, and is believed to be so to a certain degree in the ME. Proprietary software is hated more because of the big western corporatios who produce it more than because of its incompetency. Thus, FLOSS rather represents an elegant escape from the “evil western” propreitary solutions, as it is not owned by any official entity.

]]> by: Kevin Mark http://djihed.com/uncategorized/getting-out-of-the-arabic-mediocrity-loop#comment-3512 Wed, 29 Nov 2006 15:37:40 +0000 http://djihed.com/uncategorized/getting-out-of-the-arabic-mediocrity-loop#comment-3512 Hi Djihed, where is the understanding that FLOSS is not a technical idea, it is a community! Unfortunately, as a post on planet arabeyes just said, "People are people.' So not everyone has the same motivation for working on FLOSS or the same understanding of it. As someone who lurks and participates in the Debian project, some are there for the Freedom, some are there for the technology, and other have unknown reasons to participate. I know about the FLOSS movement in the US, UK and Europe from email, f2f meetings and irc. I do not know what type and variety of understating of FLOSS is happening in the Middle east. There are obviously cultural/religious factors that I do not understand that may influence what the Arab world thinks about the FLOSS and technical world and the geeks that inhabit it. Is there some confusion or suspicion about 'this strange western technology'? What is leading to people not understanding the collaborative nature and communal spirit that I've seen in the western FLOSS world. Cheers, Kev Hi Djihed,
where is the understanding that FLOSS is not a technical idea, it is a community! Unfortunately, as a post on planet arabeyes just said, “People are people.’ So not everyone has the same motivation for working on FLOSS or the same understanding of it. As someone who lurks and participates in the Debian project, some are there for the Freedom, some are there for the technology, and other have unknown reasons to participate. I know about the FLOSS movement in the US, UK and Europe from email, f2f meetings and irc. I do not know what type and variety of understating of FLOSS is happening in the Middle east. There are obviously cultural/religious factors that I do not understand that may influence what the Arab world thinks about the FLOSS and technical world and the geeks that inhabit it. Is there some confusion or suspicion about ‘this strange western technology’? What is leading to people not understanding the collaborative nature and communal spirit that I’ve seen in the western FLOSS world. Cheers, Kev

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