From: Dale Martenson <dale.martenson@...>
Date: 2006-01-26T01:13:15+09:00
Subject: Re: About rant on Dave Thomas site, titled 'imitation...'

There are three basic types of people/groups/companies:

Proactive:
-- The Creators, who invent the future out of good ideas. Breaking
ground for others. They are the leaders (reluctant as they may be).
They tend to invest the most. And may or may not be rewarded. They are
of great benefit to a community.

Reactive:
-- The Followers, who build on the sweat of others. They may work to
mimic and can come up short. They may work to improve and take
advantage of opportunity. Their investment may be little (pure
followers) or may be great (advantage takers). Again, they may or may
not be rewarded. They can be of benefit to a community.

Inactive:
-- The Takers,  who see opportunity in others work, but lack the
inventiveness to make it better. They combine things. Building out of
the work of others with very little investment. They are usually reward
since they have invested so little. They are anti-community. They
rarely give anything back to the community in return.

The point is that a "community" (apply the term as you please) needs
both the Proactive and the Reactive to thrive. The Reward is subjective
(money, fame, recognition, history). We can not all be The Creators.
Some don't have the means (time, money, knowledge).

It is not bad to build on the work of others. It is necessary. The
Creators may feel taken advantage of in some way. But they must realize
that without them progress can not be achieved. Don't blame the
Followers for following (it's in their nature). But most of all, don't
stop creating because there may be followers.

Dave Thomas and Andy Hunt are leaders in the programming and publishing
community. I for one think that their methods enhance both disciplines.
And I am encouraged that others are following their lead which in the
end benefits us all.

Dale Martenson
http://www.stewdle.com/dale