Process is the Key to Meaningful Change

Process is the key to meaningful change.

Open source is a process. When the White House announced two years ago it was going to run Drupal on Whitehouse.gov, and when it encouraged other agencies to support open source, that was a revolutionary act (in terms of government procurement), but it would have mattered little without the open source process.

You can see the truth of that when you look at efforts by vendors to simply fork open source projects like Snort and claim they've done something meaningful. Or when they try to put open source under a contracting model, doing the same work they did before using open source tools.

This saves nothing. It's the process that matters.

Rather than fight the power, the White House is engaged instead in the open source process. Last week it released its second set of open source Drupal tools, improving its file management with IMCE Tools.

Programmers working with the White House don't just use Drupal. They are part of the Drupal community, no more important than programmers who might work at, say, the Republican National Committee (if the RNC used open source). They give code to the community as well as taking from it. They participate in the process, in other words, and everyone benefits — taxpayers, the White House, other Drupal users.

The example is powerful, not just in terms of politics and government efficiency but in terms of open source. If this giant enterprise can participate and benefit, other enterprises both within and without government have an example to follow. The benefits of process grow.

Process is also what separates America from Libya or Iran.

In Wisconsin there's a process for both Republicans and Democrats, which both sides are actually following. For Democrats, leaving the state is part of the process, and the key to success lies in efforts to recall legislators who support the Governor. For Republicans, encouraging a vote is their process, as is defending their actions and showing solidarity in the media.

The demonstrations are really a sideshow. They are only part of the process to the extent that they get people excited. That excitement must be turned into action that's part of the process or it doesn't count.

A process is not all-or-nothing. A process is ongoing. A process does not deliver a final result. The democratic process re-starts with every election, but there's always another one coming. Wisconsin voters revolted against Democrats last year, and have the chance to do the same against Republicans next year — maybe sooner in some cases.

Meanwhile various processes continue. Legislative processes. Legal processes. Processes of protest, and of counter-protest. At some point both sides need to look up from what's happening and note that it's all powerfully good. People aren't getting killed on the streets of Madison.

Libya, on the other hand, lacks a process. Iran has a process, but that process does not allow for meaningful change, for a dialogue with those who disagree fundamentally, and that's integral to the success of any democratic process.

The price of this process is high. For Americans looking at the Muslim world, it includes the risk that people we don't like might get elected, and it's a price many of us don't want to pay. Such Americans are anti-democratic. Just as with Gov. Walker, who only introduced unionism as an issue after his election and thought he could ram through his own solution, unilaterally.  That's a violation of process.

Process, as I say, is the key. If process can have its say, all can be well. We need to watch the Middle East closely and make sure the people there understand this issue. Maybe some open source programmers can help.