It's so obvious, and it's still so easy to forget. Open source software is, well... open. People can modify it, give it back, pitch in, and use it as they wish. They can poke at and observe how scripts work and interact in one application, and apply those principles -- if not the code itself -- in their own projects. Still, it's so easy to forget it isn't simply about the code. Code is a major component, of course, and it's a driving force, but when it all boils down, it's still a means to an end, a tool, a way to get a job done.

It doesn't mean that code just has to work and have a function. There are oodles of other factors playing in -- usability, accessibility, and outright aesthetics. There's extensibility, compatibility, interoperability. There's spreading the word, demonstrating, advocating, and educating. And it sounds, sometimes, really endlessly time consuming. It can be -- but so can a few minutes of playing Fallout 3 before writing that email for work. Just ask my husband.

It doesn't have to be. Crazy as it is, contributing can be light work, and still effective. Sometimes, especially when it comes to advocacy, there are better results when alternative applications are mentioned and outlined in a general sense. Talk about the software further when asked, tell the person asking what the penguin (or the neat red swirly design) on your shirt represents.