individual cases
Mohammed Sameer
- pharmacology student
- deeply interested in computers
- several attempts to become a programmer before GNU/Linux
- had very limited access to source code or any source of experience, most was toy scripts, his early attempts all had no mentors, users or collegues.
- discovered GNU/Linux and got hooked quickly
- began trying to become a GNU/Linux programmer
- Arabeyes presented an immediate oppertunity to do useful work and not just toy projects
- we had no decent arabic text editors
- GTK+2 betas released with Arabic support, udit released as a very simple hack to satisfy a need for a temorary period until someone else does a proper job
- quickly gaining users with demands and reports
- easy access to previous experiecne and knowledge, cooperation from GTK developers themselves made it easy to gain knowledge quickly an to learn by doing
- search for more creative approaches and features
- katoob being adopted by arabeyes, learning how to fit within a team, how to look at grander scale
- katoob taken to new places, very inovative and competitive features, learned how to seek the unique requirments of his audience (the arab user)
- katoob translated to several languages, some users contribute.
- experience gained helped in doing tests, patches and generaly helping the cause of arabization
- community experience helped find a purpose and goal in life, plus earned respect of peers.
- variety of users taught new lessons not just in programming
- now working professionaly as an admin with frequent need for his programming skills
- study combined to present new oppertunities, help with ain shams pharmacetical computing system
FOSS allowed Mohammed Sammer the oppertunity to learn, not just from references but directly from others experience, it gave him peers, mentors, and discples all at once.
it also allowed him to be creative, and for the fruits of his creativity to be appreciated and rendered useful to many, it allwed him to gain status through his honest work all while making more friends and having fun.
