What Communities Mean and Look Like (If They're Effective and Focused)
LibreLocal in Atlanta wasn't a huge gathering, but the scale isn't what matters, it is the mission and the coordination. A long time ago we learned that becoming "too open" (even to hostile or apathetic interests) resulted or would result in disruption... or at the very least a kind of dilution. So our core team stayed focused and well-connected; we're united around the values and ideals we believe in.
Last week we wrote about this in the context of distros and alleged "inclusion". Some distros "opened up" to the point where people drag them down and the foresight gets warped in favour of people who don't share the original goals.
While it's possible to "change people" (as in, change their minds), it does take a lot of effort and at the "grain" they can be inherently hostile, with a sort of veiled or closeted hostility. They can pretend to be part of the "community" until some day they go berserk like an attack dog and leverage their "community" status to attack their peers, either directly or from the outside (in public). To cause maximal damage they exploit the pretence of being "from the inside". We all know politicians like these.
The bottom line is, aim for substance, not magnitude. If many compromises are made for the veneer of popularity, one might end up defunct like OSI. █
Image source: Halloween Postcards, ca. 1900-1920