On 11/12/06 11:37 +0530, jtd wrote: <snip>
That apart even users are contibutors. since foss is highily effecient in it's usage of resources and fantastic in it's ability to make people productive, by merely using it u are freeing up resources for better usage. Eg power consumption, chewing lesser bandwidth, increasing the "jump distance" for virii, being very aware of the undelying security implications of net usage, forcing adherence to standards etc etc.
That assumes that the end user demands standards compliance. IMO, any user who assumes the responsibility for any stake in FOSS is contributing to it, whether by filing a bug report, providing feedback, writing code, merely answering questions on mailing lists or newsgroups, or by actually paying for products in hard cash.
On the other hand, the people who do not contribute in any way have no standing in the FOSS world, which is a meritocracy.
How many people actually use open document formats over MS Office formats?
Devdas Bhagat