Jun
Re Re Repeat myself, Repeat Myself Again…
Merrily Merrily Merrily Merrily,
until there’s no confusion left.
Doesn’t seem to make any sense, and without some instruments making melodious sounds, even more so. This post is going to make two things clear: the importance of repetition and the need for repetition.
Let me begin talking about repetitions by referencing the commercials we see everywhere: billboards, newspapers, magazines, radio, TV and online. There are so many ads, and you never seem to see an ad just one. It always repeats, and it’s everywhere: on every radio channel, on every TV channel, on every busy road, on every popular website. Repetition results in recall value. The purpose of repetition is to ensure that people can remember things and to ensure it stays in your mind.
With commercials however, there’s not a lengthy-enough timeline. Once the purpose is served, commercials fade out to make way for new commercials.
Michael Tiemann recently expressed outrage over the misuse of the term Open Source, and called for action. He asked that people who misuse the term be corrected on the spot. I’m glad he referenced how Richard Stallman corrects people every time they confuse Free Software with Open Source software, or how they call it Linux instead of GNU/Linux.
The purpose of this blog entry is not to focus on the naming convention but rather on correcting people. It’s imperative that you correct them, and every single one of them. It’s important to raise your voice over all the confusion and chaos and clarify things and correct people and sometimes to blow your own trumpet.
If the community doesn’t correct the mistakes, who will?
