Cooperation and Collaboration, on a More Personal Level
Rianne, to me, isn't just a wife; she is also my best friend.
Almost exactly half a year from now it'll be 15 years since I met Rianne (it was at a friend's birthday bash). Upon speaking we realised that we had studied the same thing at uni ("Computer Science", the real thing, no diploma mills or faking one's credentials) and this morning Rianne reminded me that it is our wedding monthsary. This morning we spoke to Rianne's mom for a couple of hours (encrypted call of course, as usual, and self-hosted too) and she was pleased to learn that we expanded our pet base and are happily running our respective sites (we help one another in these activities because two pairs of eyes can catch mistakes like typos more effectively).
The attacks on Rianne and I were vicious and they only ever bring us closer together. "The power of two" is what we called it in 2012. Teamwork makes us faster and better, also more robust to attacks on either of us (or both).
Counter-intuitively (or not), the attacks on us also emboldened more people to become active members of our community. It brought more whistleblowers. They can see how far we'd go to defend our principles.
If one was to ask me about partnership (including matrimony) and all forms of companionship, I'd say that if you find the right person (or pet/s), it would enrich everything in life.
Likewise, in online communities and Free software communities, cooperation and collaboration are force multipliers, or productivity amplifiers. █
