I’m a big fan of languages; I see tremendous value in different human expression. Even with a language like English, a language I dream in, I’m told by my close friends I still pronounce things quite badly at times, often to hilarious effect. Blatant errors aside, language and its commonality can be crucial for community development; this is especially true for communities dealing with specific topics. Back in the day, in most of the Western world, scholars and scientists used Latin to communicate as an intellectual community.
Today, “experts” use “jargon” not only to put out verbal neon signs that they know the language of the subject at hand, but also to differentiate between those who know and those who do not know. It’s almost like a test, a rite of passage within a community… if you don’t know the language, how can you know the subject? This article will examine how language is used in the Free and Open Source Software community and how you as a newcomer can more easily fit in by using the right pronunciations for the right terms.
Link: The Jem Report
