--- Saidia-Ohh-Saidia Apps Made in KE aka Mkate Nusu---
"GIVE US WHEREON TO STAND AND WE WILL MOVE THE EARTH" Aki.... If I had HALF of the opportunities Bill Gates had when growing up, you'd be using my OS right now, hell, you'd have a bumper sticker with my name on it - and I'm not trying to sound cocky, I mean it. But all hope is not lost, there's a generation coming up that we're paving way for, they won't have much in terms of resources as compared to their American or European counterparts, but one word describes them 'Brilliant', not that we aren't brilliant - we're still learning the ropes after having computers introduced into our lives in a major way in our early 20's. So, Aki, loose the comparisons - Mid-life crises can't be that bad, or is it?
@Patrick, pls find my response in-line. On Fri, Nov 5, 2010 at 12:15 AM, Patrick Kariuki <patrick.kariuki@gmail.com>wrote:
But all hope is not lost, there's a generation coming up that we're paving way for, they won't have much in terms of resources as compared to their American or European counterparts, but one word describes them 'Brilliant', not that we aren't brilliant - we're still learning the ropes after having computers introduced into our lives in a major way in our early 20's.
- Another self-inflicted theory about why we cannot make progress. As expected.
So, Aki, loose the comparisons - Mid-life crises can't be that bad, or is it?
I'm very tempted to take you up on this but another day. :-)
I know you probably saved me a bashing.... so thanks. Someone asked me once WHA On 11/5/10, aki <aki275@gmail.com> wrote:
@Patrick, pls find my response in-line.
On Fri, Nov 5, 2010 at 12:15 AM, Patrick Kariuki <patrick.kariuki@gmail.com>wrote:
But all hope is not lost, there's a generation coming up that we're paving way for, they won't have much in terms of resources as compared to their American or European counterparts, but one word describes them 'Brilliant', not that we aren't brilliant - we're still learning the ropes after having computers introduced into our lives in a major way in our early 20's.
- Another self-inflicted theory about why we cannot make progress. As expected.
So, Aki, loose the comparisons - Mid-life crises can't be that bad, or is it?
I'm very tempted to take you up on this but another day. :-)
I know you probably saved me a bashing.... so thanks. Someone once asked me what potential I think my generation in Kenya had, before I went on to quote Archimedes and explain how we had to keep busy before Tv started at 4PM(for those of us lucky to have it in the first place), I asked him the following questions: 1. Did Lewis Hamilton in his childhood ever think of building a toy car(remember the manyangas) out of wires and cardboard? 2. Did Cristiano Ronaldo in his childhood ever think making his own ball out of polythene bags and sisal fibre - because the one sold at the stores was too expensive? 3. Did Cameron Johnson ever try trading mbotas(the stuff we'd peel out of bottle tops) and tap with our hands or breath to earn them? Before he switched the topic with a "right then". I realized he thought I had been bluffing all along. :-)
@Patrick, I was not bashing anyone. However, mid-life crises is taking it a bit too far, ama? :-) If you followed the other thread on "useless opensource, unless you are NASA" , there was some mud-slinging there too. Towards the end of the thread, there is now a clear picture. The problem or issue in KE is not that we do not have the people or such, there is a lack to do more. Today, the ICT situation is very different. Hardware like computers is much more cheaper and accessful than a few years ago. Internet is much better too and people can do gbs' of downloads etc. For the developer, there are no more excuses not to do more. With almost zero investments, they can perform many things. Yet, when you push to ask as to why things are not happening, you hear all sorts of things that are so common to other careers/businesses. We have to accept that we have become an end user society in the dev world but this is a bad thing. This needs to change towards more self creativity and goals. I'm reading about the MySql thing and guess what. "MySQL Community Edition is a freely downloadable version of the world's most popular open source database that is supported by an active community of open source developers and enthusiasts" are the words that appear on the webpage. Please tell me which KE dev ( besides Ken Kasina ) you know of that is an active contributor on code? If one has the oppurtunity and the passion to develop, we must and should give back even a line of code. If we cannot even contribute a single line of code towards what we are passionate about, then the "fund me/prize me" thinking will remain. And we shall never have devs actually building full solutions, systems and entering into competitve markets. This has nothing to do with one's financial or social levels. Was Ken Kasina coding from Runda or some upscale comfortable utopian location? We have a problem and I think we need to try and push push push. That is the least we can do. However, I made a closer on not to comment on the dev issues again. I shall stand by and watch as a fellow dev and pedestrian. :-) On Fri, Nov 5, 2010 at 3:02 PM, Patrick Kariuki <patrick.kariuki@gmail.com>wrote:
I know you probably saved me a bashing.... so thanks.
My apologies, I wrote the last line with my eyes closed, literally. :-) I wouldn't blame the "fund me/prize me" approach if it puts food on the table and pays the bills(lets not negate the fact that, almost everything these days has a price tag on it, I'm talking about the developer with responsibilities not the one still living with his/her parents) I have met a couple re-known code contributors from all over the world, and one thing about these guys that we probably don't have, is a source of alternative income(government or otherwise funded), that serves as a moral booster for both their creativity and passion. Now, how many of us can afford to spend $125 every year on USENIX membership and have the time to work on say, Huawei USB driver development while juggling in the the time spent on a primary source of income? Your 'Roman' approach to pushing might do more harm than good... my thoughts. If we can have a QA with Ken Kasina revolving on ways to tackle the alternative income matter then that might be a source of inspiration. On 11/5/10, aki <aki275@gmail.com> wrote:
@Patrick, I was not bashing anyone. However, mid-life crises is taking it a bit too far, ama? :-)
If you followed the other thread on "useless opensource, unless you are NASA" , there was some mud-slinging there too. Towards the end of the thread, there is now a clear picture. The problem or issue in KE is not that we do not have the people or such, there is a lack to do more. Today, the ICT situation is very different. Hardware like computers is much more cheaper and accessful than a few years ago. Internet is much better too and people can do gbs' of downloads etc. For the developer, there are no more excuses not to do more. With almost zero investments, they can perform many things. Yet, when you push to ask as to why things are not happening, you hear all sorts of things that are so common to other careers/businesses. We have to accept that we have become an end user society in the dev world but this is a bad thing. This needs to change towards more self creativity and goals.
I'm reading about the MySql thing and guess what. "MySQL Community Edition is a freely downloadable version of the world's most popular open source database that is supported by an active community of open source developers and enthusiasts" are the words that appear on the webpage.
Please tell me which KE dev ( besides Ken Kasina ) you know of that is an active contributor on code? If one has the oppurtunity and the passion to develop, we must and should give back even a line of code. If we cannot even contribute a single line of code towards what we are passionate about, then the "fund me/prize me" thinking will remain. And we shall never have devs actually building full solutions, systems and entering into competitve markets. This has nothing to do with one's financial or social levels. Was Ken Kasina coding from Runda or some upscale comfortable utopian location?
We have a problem and I think we need to try and push push push. That is the least we can do. However, I made a closer on not to comment on the dev issues again. I shall stand by and watch as a fellow dev and pedestrian. :-)
On Fri, Nov 5, 2010 at 3:02 PM, Patrick Kariuki <patrick.kariuki@gmail.com>wrote:
I know you probably saved me a bashing.... so thanks.
"Roman" mode off, "Pedestrian" mode on. Hopefully Ken and others can provide more insights and inspirations to the situation. :-) On Fri, Nov 5, 2010 at 5:07 PM, Patrick Kariuki <patrick.kariuki@gmail.com>wrote:
If we can have a QA with Ken Kasina revolving on ways to tackle the alternative income matter then that might be a source of inspiration.
participants (2)
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aki -
Patrick Kariuki