About the next OSonOS and the OS site - the quest for a "global OS"

Tue Jun 10 17:37:52 PDT 2003

yes, artur, anyone who has some passion for ost in their own language
can convene a wiki website at osw.org.

john engle is about to start incubating something similar in haitian
creole, maybe not at osw, but at globalchicago.  once it gets started,
it may or may not be appropriate as an osw.org thing.

i mention it only to say that i am quite glad to set up a wiki for
anyone at osw.org.  i have specifically reconfigured the current english
wiki into the "english wiki" so that others might see the opportunity.
 i'm glad you have.  just say when, and i'll be glad to set it up and
then you can tend the space.  i can set them up, but i can't keep them
tidy in other languages!

very soon, we'll also be floating an invitation to a wiki learning and
online spaceholding group, so this group could be a support for these
other-language adventures, as well.

many thanks, michael

Artur Ferreira da Silva wrote:

> Dear friends:
>
> Some weeks ago in a private e-mail conversation with a colleague he told
> me, in a marginal comment, that "OST is mainly an American thing".  I have
> not commented that observation but I have been thinking about it... And
> there is one thing I am sure: many of us that are non-American and
> non-English-speakers are guilty of OST being still considered mainly "an
> American thing".
>
> Eiwor's message today about the registration process for OSonOS in
> Denmark,
> conducted me to see what I could find about that event on the web. The
> only
> thing that I could discover was a page in the OSworld site, in English,
> with an invitation - also in English-only. I have also been seeing the new
> Wiki look of the web site, namely of the English-language part of it.
> Congratulations Michael, it's really wonderfull. And I also remember
> seeing
> a message in this list about the need for a French version of some
> material
> related with next OSONOS.
>
> Before I make any other comments, let me begin with a self-critique. I am
> guilt of not having offered yet a Portuguese translation of the invitation
> and also of not having had yet the time to learn a bit more about "wiki
> publishing" and begin contributing more to the OSW site - which I think
> that anyone of us can do in his own language. Is that correct Michael
> (Herman, not one the other angels out there)?
>
> Let me go back a bit in the past, and recall my personal experience with
> the OS community. After being lurking in this list for more than one year,
> I saw a message announcing OSONOS in Berlin that I attended. I will not
> repeat what I felt there - that I have shared with this list and is in the
> Archives  - but only some observations and thoughts that I have not
> shared.
>
> The first thing I have noticed in Berlin is that, apart from people from
> German (or German speaking countries) and some from the Nordic countries
> (more used to English), the presence of Europeans was almost zero. Zero
> from France, Italy, Greece and the francophone part of Belgium, two from
> Spain (working for a multinational company, German if I recall well), 1
> from Portugal (myself), a few (surprisingly few) from UK. Apart from
> Germany, USA, Canada (mainly the English speaking part) and Australia were
> well represented. On the other hand, the attempt to create after Berlin a
> European chapter (non German, that already had one) of the community
> didn't
> work.
>
> Back home I have noticed that the OSworld site was in English-only and
> have
> suggested that translations, at least of the Intro, should be made (by
> volunteers). In fact, as some of you may recall, the first non English
> Intro was the Portuguese one - and others followed. For some time this
> look
> a global multinational site. That's no longer true, as the English
> speaking
> part evolved brilliantly and the others didn't.
>
> [Let me clarify something that I don't know if I have expressed before. I
> am convinced that the OS community will never spread consistently in Greek
> and Latin Europe (except in what refers to the practice of some American
> expacts) unless there are translations of many materials in all the
> European languages, including invitations in all those languages at least
> for the OSONOS's organized in Europe - that should be distributed through
> national lists and sites of those countries.
>
> In fact, I also think that the main problem of the current Empire, and of
> the majority of the English-speaking people (including in the UK) to
> spread
> their practices is their inability to understand that the world (and
> especially Europe) is multilingual and that a French, or Italian or
> Spanish
> (from Spain) considers rude and inadequate the fact that some one talks to
> him in his own country in a foreign language.  And it is even worst if
> that
> language is the language of the Empire.
>
> Now, the next OSONOS will be held in Europe. Is this an event mainly
> directed to all that have been in the previous OSONOS, adding some people
> from Denmark and Sweden - but still being mainly a Northern event (that
> also includes for that purpose the "opposite" English-speaking South)?
>
> Or shall we profit from this opportunity to extend to the south the scope
> of the OS community. beginning with the southern Europe languages and
> regions or even, eventually, trying to involve Africa?
>
> What I can offer as a contribution to make my dream come true is:
>
> (1) A translation into Portuguese of the invitation to OSONOS-Svenmark for
> publication in the OSW site (or any other) if that is requested to me by
> the organizers
> (2) The distribution of that translation in some Portuguese mailing lists
> (3) A translation of a short summary of the invitation in French and
> Spanish and the distributions to Spanish and French lists (if natives of
> those languages don't offer themselves).
> (4) After September a more regular participation in the OSwolrd wiki,
> creating more Portuguese pages.
>
> Are there any others willing to offer contributions to make OSONOS in
> Svenmark a really "global event" and not only an "English event also
> offered to some countries that accept the English"?
>
> Regards
>
> Artur
>
> PS: For OST, "being global" is NOT to be in every continent. It Is to be
> develloped in any region in their own language. In my opinion, only then
> the needed global diversity will be obtained....
>
> PPS: and this ends my messages during the holiday
>
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--

Michael Herman
Michael Herman Associates
300 West North Avenue #1105
Chicago IL 60610 USA
(312) 280-7838

http://www.michaelherman.com - consulting & publications
http://www.globalchicago.net - laboratory & playground
http://www.openspaceworld.org - worldwide open space

...inviting organization into movement

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