Re: [ros-dev] Open-source and newcomers

[Alex]

Hello Andrew,

Saturday, July 18, 2009, 1:33:49 AM, you wrote:

>   Whilst Alex's mail may have some slightly
> over-the-top examples, he does
>  have a point. I would disagree that a newcomer is seen as a "threat"
>  however - I would suggest perhaps that it's more a case of "who does
>  this newbie think he is?" 
Let me clarify, what I meant.

This "threat" is only a subconscious threat. It's not a usual threat in
a sense "one person vs a team" or "alien vs predator".

Well, coming to think about it, it's not so easy to explain, actually :)

It's just an inner feeling of being threatened - that your routine,
the things you get used to are challenged and may change. A person's
inner ego may wonder "what's gonna happen to me personally? To my
position in the group, if things start to change?"

We are social animals and to observe the same reaction you don't need
to involve groups. We are "threatened" equally by _any_ stranger. We
wonder: who is he? How he will behave? What can or will he do to me
personally?

You meat somebody, (even if not in a hostile environment, like a dark
street, but let's say during some party) and your inner ego wonders
what this new guy will do. What if he becomes more popular than I am?
(Not to suggest to any literally-minded people here, that I am talking
about myself. I sure won't win any popularity contests :)

But you wonder. You wonder if that guy will turn out to be so much
better than yourself that he may take your job. Or your girlfriend.

Sometimes you wonder consciously, but most of the time this is all
hidden. It only manifests itself as a feeling.

Sometimes it may manifest as "who does this newbie think he is?".

Sometimes it may manifest itself as "I just hate this guy!" :)

Hope this will clarify it a bit.

-- 
Best regards,
 Alex                            mailto:[e-mail]