You say: "Mornin."

The young woman says: "Hurry. We don’t have much time. They are listening to everything we say."

You say: "The door opens at midnight. Gopher will be there."

The young woman says: "The door closes again when Gopher dies."

You say: "I thought you wouldn't come"

The young woman says: "I came… because, you're my father."

You say: "You're what?"

The young woman says: "CTHULHU! HAHAHA!"

If you told me that you were writing OSS for a women's shelter to track their data so the organization could use it for grant applications, or software for Seattle Parks and Rec to monitor erosion or something, I would immediately connect that w/volunteering. If you told me that you were writing OSS for a password manager program for Windows, I wouldn't view that as volunteering. But is the idea that the code you wrote for the password manager program is now out there and anyone (nonprofits, startups) can use it and that makes it volunteering? If so, I guess don't really consider that volunteering. If you somehow informed quality organizations of your OSS and how they could use it, that would be different, but just having written it and putting it out there isn't really all that special, is it? I guess it's like if you made a turkey dinner on Thanksgiving and purposefully left it at a bus stop in Capitol Hill- sure maybe an elderly homeless person would find it and eat it, but more than likely some hipster who makes enough money working at American Apparel to afford a nice studio apartment and plenty of ironic accessories would find it and eat it. (I know you love analogies). But do I even understand the point of OSS as volunteerism, or am I way off base? I know nothing about this- please elucidate.

I think it's really neat that software developers possess skills that can be used to better the lives of others. I like your points about the scarcity of the skill set developers have to offer, and the good that can be done from harnessing those unique abilities. As a counterpoint however, sometimes people need a break from the tasks they do on a daily basis from 9-5, and enjoy volunteering in different ways. Maybe the guy or gal who sits in front of a computer for 40-60 hours a week doesn't want to do it during the weekend, and really prefers chatting with the people who come to the soup kitchen for Sunday brunch. Another really important aspect of volunteering is the changes it creates in the volunteer. Growing positively as a person is bound to have a beneficial ripple effect through society, just as the actual volunteer work itself does. If everyone volunteered to set up chairs at benefit auctions or dole out food at soup kitchens, and no one joined a board or wrote code we'd definitely be in trouble, but we also definitely need both types of volunteerism. I really commend you for being able to see what you have to offer the community and steadfastly directing your efforts in that vein…but it's also the way you most enjoy volunteering (so isn't it a bit selfish in the same way it's selfish when someone volunteers for their Church?). It kinda sounds like you're being a little judgmental re: developers and others with an impressive skill sets who choose (what you portray as) the "easy way" to volunteer. Sometimes people just need/want to explore other avenues of themselves and of life, and take a break from what they do for a living.

All that said, I really like your points and you are starting to convince me- you can be quite persuasive I'm trying to play devil's advocate and I'm not entirely sold yet- I need more information. Currently, I'm at the stage where I think writing OSS is volunteering in certain situations but not others. Is that where you are? If not, where are you and why- inquiring minds want to know

http://sourceforge.net/

Seed your Turk with a few random RSS snippets and get your Turk chatting with other Turks until the machines produce the works of Shakespeare – it's got to be faster than monkeys.

create table col (row tinyint);
insert into col values (1),(2),(3),(4),(5),(6),(7),(8);

create table board1 select row as row1 from col;

create table board2 select row1, row as row2 from board1, col;
delete from board2 where row1=row2; # queens on the same rank
delete from board2 where abs(row2-row1)=1; # queens on the diagonal.

create table board3 select row1, row2, row as row3 from board2, col;
delete from board3 where row3=row2;
delete from board3 where row3=row1;
delete from board3 where abs(row3-row2)=1;
delete from board3 where abs(row3-row1)=2;

create table board4 select row1, row2, row3, row as row4 from board3, col;
delete from board4 where row4=row3;
delete from board4 where row4=row2;
delete from board4 where row4=row1;
delete from board4 where abs(row4-row3)=1;
delete from board4 where abs(row4-row2)=2;
delete from board4 where abs(row4-row1)=3;

create table board5 select row1, row2, row3, row4, row as row5 from board4, col;
delete from board5 where row5=row4;
delete from board5 where row5=row3;
delete from board5 where row5=row2;
delete from board5 where row5=row1;
delete from board5 where abs(row5-row4)=1;
delete from board5 where abs(row5-row3)=2;
delete from board5 where abs(row5-row2)=3;
delete from board5 where abs(row5-row1)=4;

create table board6 select row1, row2, row3, row4, row5, row as row6 from board5, col;
delete from board6 where row6=row5;
delete from board6 where row6=row4;
delete from board6 where row6=row3;
delete from board6 where row6=row2;
delete from board6 where row6=row1;
delete from board6 where abs(row6-row5)=1;
delete from board6 where abs(row6-row4)=2;
delete from board6 where abs(row6-row3)=3;
delete from board6 where abs(row6-row2)=4;
delete from board6 where abs(row6-row1)=5;

create table board7 select row1, row2, row3, row4, row5, row6, row as row7 from board6, col;
delete from board7 where row7=row6;
delete from board7 where row7=row5;
delete from board7 where row7=row4;
delete from board7 where row7=row3;
delete from board7 where row7=row2;
delete from board7 where row7=row1;
delete from board7 where abs(row7-row6)=1;
delete from board7 where abs(row7-row5)=2;
delete from board7 where abs(row7-row4)=3;
delete from board7 where abs(row7-row3)=4;
delete from board7 where abs(row7-row2)=5;
delete from board7 where abs(row7-row1)=6;

create table board8 select row1, row2, row3, row4, row5, row6, row7, row as row8 from board7, col;
delete from board8 where row8=row7;
delete from board8 where row8=row6;
delete from board8 where row8=row5;
delete from board8 where row8=row4;
delete from board8 where row8=row3;
delete from board8 where row8=row2;
delete from board8 where row8=row1;
delete from board8 where abs(row8-row7)=1;
delete from board8 where abs(row8-row6)=2;
delete from board8 where abs(row8-row5)=3;
delete from board8 where abs(row8-row4)=4;
delete from board8 where abs(row8-row3)=5;
delete from board8 where abs(row8-row2)=6;
delete from board8 where abs(row8-row1)=7;

Small LCD screens with 10 second clips. The bus stop might be confused for the bus parking lot if you just show the symbol of the bus stopped. A clip of the bus stopping, passengers getting on, and then pulling away leaves less to he interpretation.
Obviously not cost effective, but in 50 years? Hell, 5 years even.
______
All of our common symbols are only common because they are generally accepted by most people. A company like Wal-Mart or McDonald’s could effectively make blue mean Hot given enough time and energy. Symbols are relative, just because it makes sense, doesn’t mean it will be used, or even allowed to be used my external forces.
______
Finally, think of a heart with and arrow through it. Love. The symbol represents the word, but the word itself can’t be defined clearly. When you hear the word, you conjure thoughts of YOUR past feelings of love, or lack of love. Is this really expressing the feelings of the person saying it?

The potentially confusing nature of all symbols are not so different from the confusing nature of language itself. This however is rarely discussed.