The best kind of love
Picking up on Dave’s recent post, I’d like to spend a moment discussing love.
My mother tells the story of a day when I was being a kid, getting dirty playing in the garden as she and her own mother watched. Suddenly I just put my fun-having on hold, ran over to Gran, and gave her a giant muddy hug. She turned to my mother and said, “that’s the best kind of love, when you don’t even have to ask for it.”
Back in grown-up land, a guy named Neil Watson has been hanging out for a while on the OpenNMS discussion list, asking and answering questions, and generally being part of the community. Neil is not a network management guru, but he’s displayed a keen interest in OpenNMS and has always been appreciative of the help he’s received and willing to give back. That alone is good enough to call love, especially when contrasted with some of the help vampires who have plagued our community over the years.
Neil didn’t stop at giving back on the mailing list, though. He’s written a very nice and accessible review of OpenNMS 1.3.9. Nobody on the mailing list asked him to do this, and as far as I can tell his employer did not pay him to do it. He just did it. It’s like a big unsolicited hug for the OGP and everyone else who loves OpenNMS, and we didn’t even have to get muddy.
So thanks, Neil. If I ever get to Toronto, I owe you a beer and a big hug.
