Over on Slashdot today, a minor flame war has erupted over whose linux distribution is better in Will Novell’s Desktop Linux Catch On. The usual assertions that you need a company to provide full support behind a distribution, like Redhat or Novell, have been raised. And in particular, some felt that Ubuntu had no chance because it doesn’t have some big sponsoring company or an enterprise edition with paid support. This got me to thinking that just having internet forums and IRC channels is not going to be enough for open source software support if it is to get into the hands of “ordinary” people and gain mindshare from Windows and its applications. There really needs to be an Open Source Support Network.
The Open Source Support Network would consist of volunteers around the world who would take shifts fielding email, instant messages, and (gasp!) phone calls from people who need help with open source applications and Linux. This would essentially be a free, worldwide call center that Jane, Joe, Huang, and Hakim User could call to get help with OpenOffice, Linux, and other open source apps.
Of course, talk is cheap and such an undertaking would first require a well thought out organizational structure and a deep enough pool of knowledgeable volunteers to operate 24/7/365, and of course, money. But I don’t really think it would be too much beyond the kind of effort that has gone into the Mozilla, and Apache foundations to name a couple. Such a support organization could finally put to rest the often raised criticism that nobody is really supporting open source software by giving people a number to call when they need help. And as a bonus, the building of such a support network would probably advance the art of customer technical support itself which would benefit everyone.
A guy can dream, right?