RE: Where information comes from

["Jane Carnall" <jane -dot- carnall -at- digitalbridges -dot- com>]

Eric wrote:
>My take? Here goes:
>Information is _NOT_ free (in any sense). Take TECHWR-L,
>for example.

It's always good to be reminded of how much we owe you and Deborah. Techwr-l
is, quite literally, an invaluable resource: we owe you, literally, an
incalculable debt. I don't think anyone on this list would disagree that
their working environment is enriched by this list's existence.

>So, if information is _not_ free, how is it that you can
>use it without having to pay a bill?
><cut to the essentials:>
>  * Because Deborah and I think that supporting the
>    technical communication community is the right thing
>    to do, simply because we're in a position in
>    which we can help make a difference.

There are values outside the pay-me-or-I-won't-do-it economy: you and
Deborah exemplify them. No, techwr-l isn't free, any more than the NHS or a
public library or a state school is free: but that it is free at point of
access is a large part of its value. Many of the questions I have bugged
this list with in the past have been questions that didn't have a
1-800-support number. For example, last year when I was having major trouble
with a pair of SMEs who had different concepts from me about where my
responsibilities started and theirs ended: what I needed then was not
answers, but support, and this list provided it. For example, the
innumerable questions that come up that *have* no one right answer, but that
can be usefully examined by the interplay of discussion. A 1-800-support
number doesn't provide that, isn't supposed to (you call 1-800-support for a
*right* answer, not for a set of opinions) and can't, anyway, short of
putting a conference call into the middle of the people working on support
for that product.

I think that Techwr-l is an excellent working example of the Open Source
movement. That it can incorporate people who don't believe the Open Source
movement works at all and would not normally supply their valuable
information for free under any other circumstances is one measure of its
success.

Thank you, Eric and Deborah.

Jane Carnall
Technical Writer, Digital Bridges, Scotland
Unless stated otherwise, these opinions are mine, and mine alone.


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