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Barry Warsaw Named Second Annual Winner of $10,000 Pizzigati Prize
Article Index
Barry Warsaw Named Second Annual Winner of $10,000 Pizzigati Prize
About Mailman
Development Process
Barry Warsaw on Software and Social Change
About the Pizzigati Prize
Page 4 of 5

Barry Warsaw on Software and Social Change

As socially conscious citizens, we strive to make the world a better place, in whatever intimate or grand way is within our reach.  We start by loving our families, expanding our embrace to neighbors, friends, communities, nations, and those all over the world who share common beliefs and aspirations of personal and societal growth.  At the core of this network is communication, and in that respect we are at an amazing time in history. 

Technological tools like the internet allow us to reach people faster, to cast a wider net so to speak, and to do so in pervasive ways that have never before been possible.  Now you can reach that one person halfway across the earth who resonates with you, and you can link together the ten people who share your passion.  This can cut both ways, but I deeply believe that in the shining daylight, with the traditions that have formed the basis of the free software and open source movements, our better natures will prevail.

As I have developed GNU Mailman over the years, I have been very mindful of giving people a tool that is easy to use, so that they need worry less about the software and can spend their energies on what the software allows them to do: communicate.  Too often, software developers get smitten by the technology, and it is indeed fun to tinker, build and play.  But by listening closely to our users, by putting ourselves in their shoes, by having an open, transparent and inclusive development process, we begin to understand that building good software is important, but only one aspect of what we do.  Maybe building good software isn't even the most important or rewarding thing we're doing.

When a software development community is healthy, everyone is valued and feels welcomed.  I have been honored by the people who have contributed to Mailman in so many different ways.  There is the great code that talented developers have contributed.  There are also the IT professionals who have shared their valuable experiences in running email systems both large and small.  There are the people I have met virtually and in-person who are just fantastic people, smart, funny and challenging, and have given me great friendship. 

One of the most satisfying things about this project has been to watch the user community grow itself, with a sense of mutual respect and assistance that is so important to me.  Some of my absolutely most joyful moments in the project are when I receive that single gracious email of thanks from a user with a small hobby mailing list, or church mailing list, or even a dissident working to break repressive bonds.  I save these messages because it reminds me, as George Bailey is told, "Each man's life touches so many other lives". I feel that Mailman eases this path of opportunity to many others who don't even know who I am.

I hope that the Mailman project has served as a good model for open source software development. More than that, I hope that the community of Mailman users reflects my deeply held ideals of how we start by treating each other with empathy, kindness, and respect, and how we create positive social change by sharing those lessons with the wider world around us.
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